• Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights
LEOSU-VA LOCAL 104
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights
Picture
​THE WEINGARTEN RULE 
An employee's right to representation WEINGARTEN RIGHTS 

An employee may be represented by the union at an investigatory interview with his or her supervisor when the employee reasonably believes that the interview may lead to a disciplinary action.

U.S. Supreme Court ruling: The rights of employees to the presence of union representatives during investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975 in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. Since that case involved a clerk being investigated by the Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as Weingarten Rights.

What is an investigatory interview? 

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 a right to request union representation. Investigatory interviews usually relate to subjects such as:

absenteeism
drinking
fighting
poor attitude
violation of safety rules
accidents
drugs
insubordination
sabotage
work performance
damage to state property
falsification of records
lateness
theft
violation of work procedures

Weingarten rules: Under the Supreme Court's Weingarten decision, when an investigatory interview occurs, the following rules apply:


RULE 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.

RULE 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 employee;

or
Deny the request and end the interview immediately;

or
Give the employee a choice of: (1) having the interview without representation or (2) ending the interview.


RULE 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 arrives, 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 (theft, lateness, drugs, etc.).


The union representative must be allowed to take the worker aside for a private pre-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 that if the Weingarten rights are complied with, union representatives have no right to tell workers not to answer questions or to give false answers.


Download this information -  theweingartenrule.pdf
​

More Information on your Weingarten Rights on our LEOSU-DC National Union website.

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course providing up to date Information for Stewards, Local Union Officers, and LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Members who want to know more about their rights, the law & its protections, workplace issues and the benefits of having an LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Union Contract. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Workplace Rights
  • Duty of Fair Representation
  • Union Rights – Management Rights – Recognition Clause
  • Weingarten Rights
  • Steward’s Rights

Negotiations/Contract
  • Negotiating a Union Contract
  • Breaking in a New Boss
  • Mid Contract Bargaining Changes
  • Mandatory and Permissive Subjects of Bargaining

Protecting Jobs
  • Protecting Jobs, Union Wages and Benefits

Worker-Friendly Laws
  • Using the FMLA
  • Military Service and Members’ Rights
  • Using ADA in the Workplace

Effective LEOSU-DC Local Unions
  • What’s the Union Ever Done for Me? Getting Free-Riders to Push
  • Welcoming New Employees Into the Union
  • Building a Healthy Union – Checklist

Grievance Handling
  • Union Members Have A Right to the Grievance Procedure
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 1
  • Information Requests
  • Investigating Grievances
  • Just Cause – Using the Seven Tests
  • On the Job: Avoiding the Pitfalls
  • Winning Past Practice Grievances
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 2
  • Investigating Grievances – NLRA
  • Whether or Not to Arbitrate
  • Shop Steward Books by Work Rights Press
  • Shop Steward Grievance Form

Collective Bargaining

  • Collective Bargaining Rights​
  • Notice of Bargaining Obligation NLRB


©2017 LEOSU-VA Local 104, Law Enforcement Officers Security Unions LEOSU-DC, a division of LEOSU, affiliated with the Law Enforcement Officers Security & Police Benevolent Association (LEOS-PBA) all rights reserved. ​
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.