You have many rights related to your employment. Some are rights that only apply to public employees and others are rights that apply to all workplaces. The contract, state or federal laws, policies, or court rulings grant your rights. UPE is committed to making sure that ALL of our members know their rights and know how to exercise them. Moreover, we stand ready to assist members in enforcing those rights when your employer ignores or violates them.
To that end, we are developing a series of short, easy-to-read summaries of many of your employment rights.. More summaries will be added to this website over the coming months. Always feel free to ask your Steward or your Business Representative about your employment rights and how they apply to your specific circumstances.
In most cases, your employer is not required to inform you of your rights. That makes it even more important that you demand your rights be honored.
One of the most important employment rights is the right to representation in an investigatory or disciplinary meeting. Below is a summary of your rights when you are called into a meeting by your supervisor or an investigator.
Remember: always ask the purpose of a meeting ‚ always request representation.
Right to representation at an investigatory meeting.
This is a general overview of one of your rights. There are often many laws, legal rulings, and Past Practices that define how a right applies to a particular situation. While it is important to exercise your rights, it is also important to know when they may not apply. If questions arise about how these rights apply to your situation, contact your Steward or Union rep.
Right:
Know the purpose of any meeting and have your representative present in investigatory meetings.
Authority:
NLRB v. Weingarten, 420 U.S. 251, 95 S.Ct. 959 (1975).
Discussion:
You have the RIGHT to ask what the meeting is about, and what will be discussed. If the meeting is disciplinary, accusatory, or investigatory in nature, you have the RIGHT to have a Union representative present, if you have a reasonable belief that the interview could lead to discipline against you.
If your Union representative is not available, you have the RIGHT to ask that the meeting be rescheduled to another time when your representative is available.
If your supervisor orders you to attend the meeting, follow these steps:
- Attend the meeting to avoid being accused of insubordination;
- As the meeting begins, inform the person conducting the meeting that
- you are there under protest;
- you intend to file a grievance because you were denied your right to have your representative present; and you will stay in the meeting but will not participate in any discussion until you can talk with your UPE representative. Be sure to take notes of what is said to you. Do not respond to questions or accusations!
If you receive a direct order to respond and you refuse the employer may bring insubordination charges against you. This charge will most likely not be upheld if you have correctly asserted your rights. EXECPTION: If there is NOT reasonable cause for you to believe that discipline could be the result of your response(s) then you could be insubordinate if you do not cooperate and could be disciplined on that basis.
Counseling Memos, Performance Improvement Programs (PIP) and Performance Evaluations: Generally these personnel actions are not considered discipline because the employer has a right to communicate their performance expectations and to inform the employee of performance deficiencies.
How to exercise your rights:
Your employer is NOT required to tell you what your rights are. You MUST request to have your representative present. Contact the Union office and let the person answering the phone know you have an urgent issue.
What to do if you believe your rights have been violated :
Contact the Union office or your Steward immediately.
