Weingarten Rights

As a member of the union, you are within your rights to request and have representation according to the Supreme Court decision under NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. (1975). The following parameters must be met for an investigatory interview:

1. The employee must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. The employee cannot be punished for making this request.

2. After the employee makes the request, the employer must choose from among three options. The employer must:

Grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the emplouee; or
Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
Give the employee a choice of:
- 1: having the interview without representation
- 2: ending the interview

3: If the supervisor denies the request for union representation and continues to ask questions, he or she commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has the right to refuse to answer. The supervisor cannot discipline the employee for such a refusal.

Rights of Union Representatives

Supervisors often assert that the only role of a union representative at an investigatory interview is to observe the discussion, i.e., to be a silent witness. The Supreme Court, however, clearly acknowledged a union representative's right to assist and counsel workers during the interview. Decided cases establish the following procedures:

When the union representative arrive, the supervisor must inform the representative of the subject matter of the interview, i.e., the type of conduct for which discipline is being considered.
The union representative must be allowed to take the worker aside for a private interview conference before questioning begins.
The union representative must be allowed to speak during the interview. The union representative, however, does not have the right to bargain over the purpose of the interview.
The union representative can request that the supervisor clarify a question so the worker can understand what is being asked.
After a question is asked, the union representative can give advice on how to answer. When the questioning ends, the union representative can provide information to the supervisor.
It must be emphasized if the Weingarten Rights are complied with, union representatives have no right to tell workers not to answer questions or to give false answers.

Information provided via ISTA resource found here.

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