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EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION The right of employees to have
union representation at investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S.
Supreme Court in a 1975 case (NLRB vs.
Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689). These rights have
become known as the Weingarten rights. Employees have Weingarten
rights only during investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview
occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which
could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his or
her conduct. If an employee has a reasonable
belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he
or she says, the employee has the right to request union representation.
Management is not required to inform the employee of his/her Weingarten
rights; it is the employee’s responsibility to know and request. When the employee makes the
request for a union representative to be present management has three
options: Employers will often assert that
the only role of a union representative in an investigatory interview is to
observe the discussion. The Supreme Court, however, clearly acknowledges a
representative's right to assist and counsel workers during the interview. The Supreme Court has also ruled
that during an investigatory interview management must inform the union
representative of the subject of the interrogation. The representative must
also be allowed to speak privately with the employee before the interview.
During the questioning, the representative can interrupt to clarify a
question or to object to confusing or intimidating tactics. While the interview is in progress
the representative can not tell the employee what to say but he may advise
them on how to answer a question. At the end of the interview the union
representative can add information to support the employee's case. On |