Right to a Witness in Interviews

Finally, if you need to call an employee into your office to investigate a workplace incident, are you required to allow the employee a witness?

Much was made about a decision from the National Labor Relations Board ? the federal agency that regulates unions - that issued in 2000 mandating that all employers must provide a witness in investigatory interviews.  The rule, commonly known as "Weingarten" rights, states that if an employee is called into an investigatory interview, he or she has the right to have a witness present.  For about 60 years, that rule applied only to employees represented by a union.  The NLRB extended that rule in 2000 to all employees, without regard to union representation. 

This summer, the NLRB reversed its stance.  In that decision, IBM Corp., the NLRB stated that it was returning to the old rule that Weingarten rights apply only to employees represented by unions.

This resolves a change in the NLRB?s rules that many criticized as partisan and contrary to the purposes of the Labor Act.  In the event you are confronted with a request for a witness by an employee in interviews at your non-union operation, you are no longer required to allow employees to insist on having a witness present.  Every case should be decided on its own facts, so if your business is confronted with this situation you should contact an attorney experienced in labor relations.