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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 that 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.

Shop-floor conversations:

Not every management-initiated discussion is an investigatory interview. For example, a foreman may talk to a worker about the proper way to do a job. Even if the boss asks questions, this is not an investigatory interview because the possibility of discipline is remote. The same is true of routine conversations to clarify work assignments or explain safety rules.

Nevertheless, even an ordinary shop-floor discussion can change its character if the supervisor is dissatisfied with the employee's answers. If this happens, the employee can insist on the presence of a union representative before the conversation goes any further.

Disciplinary announcements:

When a supervisor calls a worker to the office to announce a warning or other discipline, is this an investigatory interview affording the worker a right to union representation? The NLRB says no, because the employer is merely announcing a previously arrived-at decision and is not questioning the worker. Such a meeting, however, can be transformed into an investigatory interview if the supervisor begins to ask questions to support the decision.

Note: An employer that has followed a past practice of allowing stewards to be present when supervisors announce discipline, must maintain the practice during the contract term. Refusing to allow a steward to attend would constitute an unlawful unilateral change.