

The Act establishes wage and hour laws, and since most employers are engaged in interstate commerce, you are probably covered by the FLSA. If your employer makes more than $500,000 a year in annual sales or is engaged in interstate commerce, you are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For additional information on these state laws as well as a list of cities and counties with ordinances that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity, click here. While discrimination based on sexual orientation is not prohibited under Title VII or other federal law, currently 21 states and the District of Columbia have employment discrimination statutes that prohibit discrimination on that basis. They can help you decide whether it’s best to utilize the union’s internal grievance system or to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and they can help guide you through the process. If you think your employer has discriminated against you, treated you unfairly, or harassed you because of your race, color, ethnicity or national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, disability, age, or genetic information, you should voice your concerns to your local union steward or another union representative. Protection from DiscriminationĪs an employee, you are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects you from discrimination and harassment in the workplace. However, the employer is under no obligation to grant it. Other non-union employees may ask to have a coworker present at an investigatory interview and they cannot be punished for the request. Railway and airline employees are covered by the Railway Labor Act and therefore do not have Weingarten rights. Weingarten rights only apply to union members covered under the National Labor Relations Act and to federal employees under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

After the meeting, contact your union representative as soon as possible and give him or her a copy of your notes from the meeting. Answer all of the questions truthfully and write everything down. If your requests are not granted, proceed carefully. If management tells you the union representative is unavailable, ask them to reschedule the meeting until you’ve had a chance to meet with your representative. Politely explain that you feel uncomfortable and would really prefer to have a union steward present. Do not lose your temper or refuse to answer any of management’s questions. It is a good idea to bring writing materials to any meeting, just in case you need to make a record. If management denies your request and continues with the meeting, you should immediately write down that your Weingarten rights were denied. Your union representative can then object to intimidation tactics or confusing questions.
Once your representative arrives, you are entitled to consult with him or her privately before management starts asking questions. When you invoke your Weingarten rights, the employer must either grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives or deny the request and end the meeting immediately. You can ask for your union representative at any time before or during the investigatory interview. An investigative interview is a meeting where management questions an employee to obtain information and the employee has a reasonable belief that he or she will be disciplined or fired as a result. As a result of this decision, you are entitled to have a union representative present when management calls you in for an investigative interview. Supreme Court established what are known as Weingarten Rights for all employees represented by unions.

One of the many benefits you receive as a union member is protection from coercive interrogation. Overall, women in unions are about 19 percent more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and about 25 percent more likely to be in an employer-provided pension. If you are a woman, you are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and a pension if you join a union than you are if you simply have a four-year college degree. In every state, union workers are also substantially more likely to have employer-provided health insurance as well as an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Between 20, the average union worker earned at least $1.50 per hour more than the average non-union worker, and in North Dakota and Wyoming, union workers made about $6 more per hour than their non-union counterparts. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, union workers generally earn substantially more than non-union workers.
