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Employment-related Resources and Laws
Working people in America have certain basic legal rights to safe, healthy and fair conditions at work. But many employers—perhaps yours—violate these basic rights because they value their profits more than their workers.
This site will enable you to find help if that happens to you, with links to government agencies that investigate complaints.

On the Job Injury?
For help with safety hazards or injuries on the job contact your steward .
For general information contact OSHA .
Safety and Health On the Job

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - http://www.ada.gov
The ADA Home Page provides access to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations for businesses and State and local governments...

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) - http://www.eeoc.gov
 The agency of the United States Government that enforces the federal employment discrimination laws.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

U.S. Department of Labor - http://www.dol.gov
The Department of Labor (DOL) fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits...

Social Security - http://www.socialsecurity.gov
Thinking about retiring, making plans to retire or filing for disability? Or do you need information to help take care of the Social Security issues facing an aging parent or relative? A great way to help you through the maze is by going online at www.socialsecurity.gov
 

Weingarten Rights

The Right to Representation

If you are ever called into an interview meeting with your supervisor or manager so they can investigate a situation which might result in discipline, you have specific representational rights. These rights are summarized below:

   1. You have the right to have a Union steward present.
   2. If you want a steward there, you must ask for him or her.
   3. If you do not know why your manager wants to meet with you, ask him/her if it is a meeting that could result in a discipline.
   4. If your manager refuses to allow you to bring a steward, repeat your request in front of a witness. Do not refuse to attend the meeting, but do not answer any questions either. Take notes. Once the meeting is over call your steward at once.
   5. You have the right to speak privately with your steward before the meeting and during the meeting.
   6. Your steward has the right to play an active role in the meeting. She or he is not just witness.

These rights are called "Weingarten Rights" based on a 1975 Supreme Court decision (NLRB vs. J. Weingarten). As with all rights, if we do not use them we lose them.

This statement could save your job:

    "If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated I respectfully request that my steward be present at the meeting. Without representation present, I choose not to respond to any questions or statements."

Garrity Rights

In the case of Garrity v. New Jersey, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that public employees could not be forced, under clear threat of discipline, to violate the principles of compulsory self-incrimination.

This decision established what have come to be called "Garrity Rights" for public employees.

The Garrity rule is similar to Miranda rights for public employees. However, the burden is on the employee to assert their Garrity rights. These rights can and should be asserted whenever an employee believes they are being investigated for possible criminal conduct.

Once an employee has asserted their Garrity rights, management must:
  • Give a direct order to answer the question;
  • Make the question specific, directly and narrowly related to the employee's duty or fitness for duty;
  • Advise the employee that the answers will not and cannot be used against him/her in a criminal proceeding, nor the fruits of those proceedings; and
  • Allow union representation if the employee also asserts their Weingarten Rights.
 

Duty to Bargain: You have a voice in changes in your workplace

When you have a union, Federal law requires your employer to bargain with you over significant changes in your working conditions. It is illegal for an employer to unilaterally change working conditions that are "mandatory subjects of bargaining." Before announcing or implementing such changes employers must notify the union and bargain over the changes.

To be "mandatory subjects of bargaining," policies must have a significant impact on your working conditions. The following is a list of just some of the working conditions that your employer cannot change without bargaining with you first.

Absence rules
Bathroom procedures
Clean up rules
Dress codes
Drug/Alcohol testing
Employee privileges (right to listen to radio, smoke, receive telephone calls etc.)
Evaluation systems
Free coffee
Grooming standards
Insurance benefits

Light duty policies
Meal or coffee break rules
New hours or shifts
Parking rules
Pay check procedures
Pay rates
Safety and health rules
Vacation policies
Work loads
Work rules
Work schedules

Just Cause: Discipline Must Be Fair

"Just Cause" may be the single biggest difference between working union and non-union. Without a union, you have very few legal protections. You can be disciplined or terminated for almost any reason, or for no reason at all. With a union contract, on the other hand, your employer cannot discipline you without "just cause."

Through years of legal precedent seven criteria have been established that an employer must meet for a discipline to be considered "just cause."

1. Did the employee being disciplined know that they were committing an infraction? Rules or policies must be made clear to people so that they know they can get in trouble for violating them. If fair warning was not provided, the discipline should not stand.

2. Were the rules, orders and discipline applied evenhandedly and without discrimination? Rules cannot be selectively enforced just on certain employees. If enforcement has been lax in the past, management cannot suddenly begin to crack down without first warning employees. If the discipline is not based on a rule that applies to everyone at all times, then it should not stand.

3. Was the employee afforded due process during management's investigation and decision making about the discipline? Employers are obligated to tell an employee what they're being accused of, confronting them with the evidence and giving them a chance to respond.

4. Did the employer investigate completely and fairly before imposing the discipline? Employers are obligated to do a proper investigation before deciding to discipline. They must be objective during the investigation. If management jumped to a conclusion before looking at all the facts, the discipline should not stand.

5. Did the employer produce substantial evidence or proof of guilt? The burden of proof is on management to show that some infraction was committed. If they cannot provide clear and convincing evidence to justify the discipline, it should not stand.

6. Was the employer's rule or order reasonably related to the efficient and safe operation of the facility? A discipline not related to the actual work of the facility should not stand.

7. Was the discipline reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense and the employee's past record and length of service? The punishment must fit the crime. A discipline that is too severe, especially in light of a good overall work record for the employee, should not stand.

Information: You have a right to know

If you are a representative of your union, you have an absolute right to information your employer would rather you did not see. Under the Federal law, an employer must make every effort to supply the union with any and all documents, data and facts it deems relevant for contract bargaining or grievances. Any information that might be relevant or even lead to the identification of something relevant must be supplied.

The following is a list of some of the information that representatives of the union have a right to demand from employers.

Accident reports
Attendance records
Customer complaints
Disciplinary records
Employer manuals, guidelines and policies (including internal policies)
Evaluations
Investigative reports
Investigatory files
Job descriptions
Memos
Payroll records
Personnel files
Schedules
Seniority lists
Supervisor notes
Time cards
Work rules

Grievance Procedure: A fair process for settling disputes

When you have a union, your contract sets out a fair procedure for resolving disputes you may have with your employer. Your employer can no longer ignore your complaints about unfair discipline, favoritism and other problems.

You can use the grievance procedure to:

enforce your union contract with your employer
enforce federal, state and municipal laws your employer may be violating
enforce management's own policies when they violate them
enforce well established past practices when your employer violates them or tries to change them
Every grievance procedure is different. But what just about all of them have in common is that, in the end, a neutral third party - an arbitrator - makes the final determination about the complaint. Your employer is no longer the prosecutor, judge and jury. You get a fair trial.

Click here to download the SEIU 722 Grievance Form

 

  


Know your rights:

>> Weingarten Rights
>> Garrity Rights
>> Duty to Bargain
>> Just Cause
>> The Right to Know
>> Grievance Procedure

SEIU 722 Contact Info
SEIU 722
 1673 Columbia Road NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20009

Phone: 202-483-6221
Fax: 202-483-
Email: info@seiu722.org



Dan Fields Jr.
President, SEIU 722

Dan Fields Jr is the president of SEIU Local 722.  Under Dan Fields Jr. leadership SEIU local 722 has increased its membership.


This statement could save your job:
"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated I respectfully request that my steward be present at the meeting. Without representation present, I choose not to respond to any questions or statements."

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SEIU 722
1673 Columbia Road NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20009
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