Benefits of providing Weingarten rights for nonunion employees
| Published date | 14 November 2016 |
| Pages | 267-270 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-07-2016-0063 |
| Date | 14 November 2016 |
| Author | Steven Abraham |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Benefits of providing Weingarten rights for
nonunion employees
Steven Abraham
Steven Abraham is
Professor at the
Department of Business,
SUNY Oswego, Oswego,
New York, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –Unionized employees have the legal right to bring a union representative with them into an
investigatory interview if they request it (“Weingarten rights”). This study aims to demonstrate that
employers should allow nonunion employees the right to have a co-employee accompany them in a
similar type of interview, if the employees make that request.
Design/methodology/approach –Not applicable.
Findings –There will be two benefits to allowing nonunion employees the right to bring a
co-employee into an investigatory interview with them. First, this will be a form of organizational
justice, and researchers demonstrated the benefits of employees perceiving that they receive
organizational justice. Secondly, this will be a form of union substitution which should reduce
employees’ desire for unionization.
Originality/value –Whereas most employers seek to avoid the application of Weingarten rights in
nonunion workplaces, this article argues that organizations should grant employees this right
voluntarily.
Keywords Human resource management, Organizational justice, Weingarten rights
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Since 1975, employees who are represented by a union have been protected by something
known as “Weingarten rights”. Essentially, Weingarten rights allow employees who are
called into a disciplinary meeting by management to request that a union representative
accompany them into that meeting. Weingarten rights were created by the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) and affirmed by the Supreme Court. In the years since 1975,
however, the Supreme Court never has addressed whether employees who are not
represented by a union are protected by Weingarten rights, and the Board has vacillated
on whether or not they apply to employees who are not represented by a union. In other
words, if employees who are not represented by a union are called into a disciplinary
investigation, do they have the legal right to request that another employee be allowed to
accompany them to that investigation? The current NLRB position, established in 2004, is
that they do not, and commenters have advanced arguments for both positions. This paper
takes the position that irrespective of what nonunion employees’ legal rights in this area are,
it would be prudent for management to allow nonunion employees the option to bring
another employee into a disciplinary investigation with them if they make that request. This
is because allowing employees this option would be a form of “organizational justice” that
should improve a number of workplace outcomes. In addition, allowing nonunion
employees this right will help reduce the probability that the organization’s employees will
opt to unionize. Finally, management has little to lose by affording employees with these
rights. Each of these reasons will be elaborated below, following a brief history of
Weingarten rights in nonunion firms.
On a different note
DOI 10.1108/SHR-07-2016-0063 VOL. 15 NO. 6 2016, pp. 267-270, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 267
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