Weingarten rights! Did you know that you have these rights during investigatory interviews with your employer? If you don't know, then you should know. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an employee is entitled to have a union representative present during any interview that may result in discipline.
Weingarten rights are kind of like Miranda rights. Miranda gives citizens the right to have an attorney present for questioning by law enforcement officers. You've likely seen a television show where Miranda was mentioned or heard of someone invoking Miranda or it being violated in the news. Weingarten rights allow employees a representative but are unlike the right to have an attorney because employers, unlike the police, are not required to inform an employee of their rights under Weingarten, which is why employees need to know about this right.
Weingarten Rights help you protect your job. These rights apply only during investigatory interviews, however. What’s an investigatory interview? Often an investigatory interview occurs when superiors require an employee to defend, explain, or admit misconduct or work performance issues during a meeting. In that case, the employee’s responses may form the basis for discipline or discharge. To invoke Weingarten, the employee must reasonably believe that their responses could result in dismissal, discipline, demotion, or other adverse consequences.
Not every meeting or employer questioning is investigatory, leading to discipline.
An employee's request for a union representative can be denied in the following situations: