Advice & representation

The BASW/SWU Advice and Representation team are a team of qualified social workers who provide specialist professional and regulatory help. 

The A&R service provides advice and representation to more than a 1,000 social workers a year. 

The Advice and Representation team, working in partnership with Social Workers Union, provide the following advice and representation to eligible members:

• Workplace employment law matters - such as disciplinary, grievance, capability, and sickness absence procedures.
• Fitness to practice processes with each of the 4 UK social work regulators (NISSC, SCW, SSSC, and SWE).

We undertake work with members who have experienced discrimination because of a protected characteristic, a problem that should not be encountered in the social work profession but is sadly all too common.

We encourage you to seek advice from the team at an early stage as we may help you to prevent a difficult situation from escalating.  

If an employment process becomes formal, or when the fitness to practise process moves to the hearing stage, the team may provide representation and support for eligible members in what can be a complex or challenging situation.   

Please note: To access the services of the team, you must be an eligible member. You are entitled to telephone advice and telephone support after the first month of your membership. You will also be entitled to representation after a one-month qualifying period. To qualify for representation, the issue cannot have been a known pre-existing issue or active during this one month qualifying period. It is important to note that any known pre-existing issues or issues that arise in the first month of membership do not ever become eligible for either advice or representation. 

Guidance sheets for BASW/SWU members

From the day you join you will have access to 46 guidance sheets created by the team which may assist you in resolving a current issue or managing the immediate problem and by providing an overview of what to expect from the process. The sheets cover a wide range of employment and regulatory processes as well as tips on how to approach certain situations or to prepare for meetings. 

If you are an eligible member and require further information or guidance, please contact us via the contact form for the Advice and Representation team and a member of our team will be in touch (log-in required).

Not a member? 

Join BASW today

Social Workers Union

SWU is a trade union with approximately 15,000 members dedicated to social work professionals and run by social workers. 

Whilst BASW members may be represented by their professional body, the employer has the right to refuse accompaniment. In law, the only legal right to accompaniment is by a workplace colleague or a Trade Union Official. 

If you are not already a member we encourage you to join the Social Workers Union (SWU); this will provide you with the reassurance of a statutory right to be accompanied to a grievance or disciplinary hearing by a Trade Union Official. 

Opting in to SWU means you get all the benefits of the trade union alongside BASW, your professional association – all under one roof. To make it easy, you pay one monthly or annual fee and you are signposted to where you need to go across a network working to support you.

Opt into SWU for a discounted membership.  

Contact the membership team for details.

SWU Trade Union Officials in the Advice & Representation service work throughout the UK and provide representation at internal hearings for disciplinary and grievance procedures, and employer investigations into practice and misconduct allegations. The team provide professional, swift, practical representation. 

If you are going through a formal employment process, a SWU member has the right to be represented by an Official of a Trade Union of their choice.