Weingarten rights - Weingarten is the name of a Union member that won a case in which he stated that he had the right to have his union representative present at the time of an investigatory interview. This is similar to the Miranda rights that a police officer must inform you about prior to making an arrest. The difference between the two is that a store manager is not obligated to advise you of your rights.

An investigatory interview is when a supervisor, or security loss-prevention person questions an employee to obtain information which could result in discipline, or when an employee must defend his/her conduct.  

Again, you must make the request yourself. You are entitled to this right only if you have reasonable belief that discipline or adverse consequences may result from what you say. 

If a member of management asks you to perform a task or asks you a routine question, it is not an investigatory interview.  

An employer has (3) choices when you make your request known. 

1) Grant the request and delay questioning until a rep arrives.

2) Deny the request and end the interview.

3) Give the employee the choice of having the interview without representation or ending the interview. It is very important that you handle this properly. If you have a feeling in advance that the interview will occur, please try to contact a Union Representative.