Any employee in the bargaining unit has the right to be represented in closed door meetings with management officials. The presence of the union representative prevents supervisors from coercing employees into confessing to alleged wrongdoings and/or accepting undue or harsh remedial actions. The right of an employee to have a union representative present during such questioning comes from a Supreme Court Case decided in 1975. That case, NLRB vs. Weingarten, set out certain rules for employees subject to investigatory interviews on the job. The Weingarten Rule applies to federal and D.C. employees and was adopted in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.
Under the Weingarten, an employee has the right to union representation when:
a. he/she is subject to an investigatory interview. Investigatory interviews happen when a supervisor or other management official questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend her or his conduct. And;
b. he/she has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he/she says in the interview.
When those conditions are met, the employee has the right to request union representation.
There must be an investigatory interview. The employee must, either before or during the interview, ask for union representation.
When the request is made:
If the supervisor refuses to honor the employee's request and insists on the interview, he or she commit an unfair labor practice (ULP) and the results of the interview may be set aside by the FLRA if the charge is upheld.