Something has gone wrong at work and you want someone in your corner. The question almost everyone asks first is which one — union rep, ACAS, or a solicitor?
The honest answer is that it usually isn't one. They're not competing for the job — they do different jobs, cost different amounts, and most people who come out of a dispute in one piece used two or three of them at different stages.
What follows is a straight account of each, including what it can't do. It isn't a ranking.
Five routes, and what each one actually does
A trade union rep
Someone from your union — a colleague trained for the role, sometimes a full-time officer — who advises you, puts your case to the employer, and sits beside you in formal meetings. Where the union is recognised, they already know the local agreements, and often the managers too.
That right is written down, not a favour. Ask reasonably to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing and your employer must permit it — a union official, a certified rep, or a colleague (section 10, Employment Relations Act 1999). Your companion can put your case, sum it up, and respond on your behalf. They can't answer the questions for you.
It's covered by your subscription, and a strong enough case can get a union-funded solicitor behind it too. The catch: you have to be a member, and most unions won't take on something that started before you joined.
ACAS
A public body, on nobody's side. Free helpline — 0300 123 1100, weekdays 8am to 6pm — a large guidance library, and the Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, which sets the minimum an employer should follow and which a tribunal reads when judging your case.
It also runs early conciliation: the free settlement step almost everyone goes through before a tribunal claim. Not a hearing. Nothing you have to accept.
What it won't do is take your side. Advisers explain the law and lay out your options with the risks, but they don't tell you which one to pick, and they don't act for you. Conciliation itself is stretched — ACAS's own site puts the wait to start at around seven weeks.
A solicitor
Someone who can assess your case properly, write to your employer, negotiate a settlement, and stand up for you at a tribunal. Where the case is complicated, high-value, or your employer already has lawyers, that's hard to replace with anything else on this list.
Two ways the money usually works. Hourly billing, where rates vary hugely by firm and region — get a written estimate and a cap before you sign anything. Or "no win no fee", which in an employment case almost always means a damages-based agreement: the solicitor takes a cut of whatever you recover, capped by law at 35% including VAT (reg 7, Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013, England and Wales). Citizens Advice puts the going rate at up to a third.
Worth checking before you pay anyone: legal expenses cover is often bundled into home insurance, car insurance, credit cards, even some mobile contracts. A surprising number of people already have it and don't know.
And a no win no fee firm only takes cases it thinks will win. Being turned down by one is a verdict on their risk appetite, not on your case.
Free and low-cost advice
Citizens Advice takes employment problems as a matter of course, from an underpayment check to tribunal help — though what a given local office can take on varies. Law Centres are charities with real solicitors on staff, free at the point of use, but bound to a local catchment and buckling under record demand. The Free Representation Unit has represented people at tribunal since 1972, free, mostly via referral, hearings restricted to London and the South East. LawWorks runs free clinics, Advocate finds barristers willing to act for nothing, and the Equality Advisory and Support Service specialises in discrimination.
None of them can promise you representation. Capacity, eligibility, geography. Approach them early, not with three weeks left on the clock.
Stewrd
Not a rep. Not an adviser. Not a lawyer. It can't sit in your hearing, negotiate on your behalf, or file anything for you — for that, you need one of the four routes above.
What it does do: explain where you stand in plain English, and build a private, dated record of what's happened, from your phone, free to start. ACAS's own advice for getting the most out of its helpline is to go in with your questions written out, the guidance already read, and your contract already checked. That's the gap Stewrd fills — the bit before the call, not instead of it.
Legal aid for employment cases: mostly, no
In England and Wales, employment disputes sit on GOV.UK's list of what legal aid doesn't cover — unless you're being discriminated against. A separate exceptional case funding route exists where human rights are at stake, but it's narrow.
Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own schemes. Check the position where you actually are, not where you assume you are.
Using more than one of these isn't indecision. It's normal.
A rep gets you through the disciplinary. A call to the ACAS helpline gives you a neutral read on the process. If it isn't resolved, ACAS conciliation is next. If that doesn't settle it, union funding, insurance cover or a free service picks up from there. One problem, four routes — and none of them close off the others.
And if none of them are open to you, that's not the end of the road either. Tribunals are built for people to represent themselves, and plenty do exactly that.
The one thing all of them ask for
The record. Dates, in order. Who said what, and who else was in the room. The letters, the emails, the payslips, the rota screenshots. Every rep, conciliator, adviser and solicitor starts in the same place — what happened, and when — and what they can do for you depends heavily on that answer.
Keep it private and on your own device, not a work laptop or work email. Writing it down commits you to nothing. This is the exact job Stewrd is built for — turning what happened into a record a rep, ACAS or a solicitor can actually use. And if a deadline might be involved, read our guide to employment tribunal time limits.
Whichever route you take, start with the record
Stewrd is an AI workplace companion for UK workers — built by a former union rep and branch secretary. It explains where you stand in plain English and builds a private, dated record as you go. It doesn't replace a rep, ACAS or an adviser — it gets you ready for them.
Know your rights. Record what matters.
Common questions
Can I use more than one of these at the same time?
Yes, and most people should. None of them rules out the others.
Can I get legal aid for an employment tribunal claim?
Generally no in England and Wales, unless the problem is discrimination. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate schemes.
How much does no win no fee cost me?
Up to 35% of what you recover in England and Wales, including VAT. Read the agreement first — especially what happens if you withdraw partway through.
If I join a union now, will it help with something that's already happened?
Usually not — most unions have a pre-existing issue rule covering matters arising after you join. Ask directly. It's still worth joining for what comes next.