Any employee has the right to Union
representation when management questions an employee to obtain
information and the employee has a reasonable belief that discipline
or other adverse consequence may result from what he or she says.
Your Union strongly suggests that you exercise this right.
Having a steward present can help in many ways.
The steward can:
Serve as a witness to prevent supervisors from
giving a false account of the conversation
Object to intimidating tactics or confusing
questions
Advise (when appropriate) and employee against
blindly denying everything. Thereby giving the appearance of
dishonesty and guilt.
Help an employee to avoid making fatal
admissions.
Warn an employee against losing his or her
temper.
Raise extenuating factors
The Employee Rights under Weingarten rules are as
follows:
The employee may request union representation
before or during the interview. Remember the company does not have
to offer union representation.
After the request, the employer must choose from
amount three options.
Grant the request and delay questioning until
the union representative arrives.
Deny the request and end the interview
immediately.
Give the employee a choice of:
Having the interview without representation
(usually a mistake or the wrong choice) or
Ending the interview (best choice if no
union steward is coming)
Not every discussion with management is an
investigatory interview. For example, a supervisor may speak to an
employee about the proper way to do a job. Even if the supervisor
asks the employee questions, this is not an investigatory interview
as the use or possibility of discipline is remote.
However a routine conversation changes character
if a supervisor becomes dissatisfied with an employee’s answers and
takes a hostile attitude. If this happens, the meeting becomes an
investigatory interview and Weingarten rules apply.
If the employer denies the request for union
representation and questions the employee, it commits an
unfair labor practice and THEN the employee may refuse to answer.
Although some supervisors sometimes try to assert
that the only function of a steward at an investigatory interview is
to observe the discussion in other words be a SILENT witness this is
WRONG. The steward has the right to counsel the employee during the
interview and to assist the employee to present the facts. Legal
cases have established the following rights and obligations of the
steward.
When the steward arrives, the supervisor must
inform the employee and the steward of the subject matter of the
interview: for example, the type of misconduct, which is being
investigated. (The supervisor does not, however, have to reveal
management’s entire case.)
The steward can take the employee aside for a
private pre-interview conference before the questioning begins.
The steward can speak during the interview.
(But, the steward has no right to bargain over the purpose of the
interview or to obstruct the interview.)
The steward can advise the employee not to
answer questions that are abusive, misleading, badgering,
confusing or harassing.
When the questioning ends, the steward can
provide information to justify the employee’s conduct.
