Can I bring a lawyer to an HR meeting?

HR meetings aren’t fun for anyone. 

If you’re having one, it usually means that something’s gone wrong. This isn’t uncommon – 85% of employees experience conflict at work.

If you’re an employee, you might be afraid that something bad is about to happen to you or your job. If you work in the HR department, you might be intimidated at the prospect of having to:

1. Act in line with legislation

2. Be professional

3. Do right by the employee

4. Protect the company

… all in the same meeting. It’s a lot to handle for everyone involved.

You might think that having a legal representative present for such a high-stakes meeting would ease some of the anxiety, at least if you’re an employee. But is that allowed? 

In this article, we’ll talk about when to engage a workplace lawyer and give some tips for HR professionals when managing tricky conversations.

Can I bring a lawyer to an HR meeting?

The short answer to this question is no – at least not for most situations.

In most cases in the US, you do not have the legal right to bring a lawyer to an HR meeting with your employer. That means you don’t get to tell your employer that you’re going to bring an employment lawyer or refuse to attend the meeting without legal representation.

In fact, in a state like Texas, your employer can make you attend a meeting with anyone of their choosing.

Employment law differs slightly between states and in other countries.

However, in most cases in the US, bringing a lawyer to an HR meeting is not a legal right. 

This might sound scary, but to be honest, you’ll usually have no need for a lawyer in an HR meeting anyway. Despite their somewhat testy reputation, many HR meetings are about internal employment matters, like:

• Requesting your help in setting up a new team or venture

• Reviewing your benefits

• Organizing training and team building

Even in matters relating to workplace conflict, it’s more likely that your HR rep just wants to help resolve the conflict by facilitating communication between you and the coworker you have a disagreement with. 

Unless someone has made a charge of discrimination against you, you aren’t likely in a position where you need a lawyer to defend yourself.

Here are some examples of sources of workplace conflicts that don’t usually require legal representation:

1. Differences in personality styles or working

2. Individual competence or performance

3. Level of support or resources

4. Disagreements on deliverables or setting targets

5. Contracts of employment/terms and conditions

6. Absence or absence management

7. Promotion

Perceived behaviors in workplace conflict

In most of these workplace conflicts – for example, having personality differences with a colleague – HR may simply want to sit the involved parties down to resolve the issue through discussion and maintain a healthy work environment. 

Source

However, there are some cases where you are allowed to bring a lawyer into a meeting with HR. Let’s cover those now.

When can you bring a lawyer to an HR meeting?

You can bring a lawyer to an HR meeting in the United States if you meet the following four criteria:

1. You are part of a labor union; and

2. You are meeting with HR because they want to question you as part of an investigation; and

3. You reasonably believe you may be disciplined because of the investigation; and

4. You request representation

That’s a lot to unpack, so let’s start with what an investigation involves.

An HR investigation is triggered when an employee makes a formal complaint, for instance, on the grounds of discrimination. In 2021, there were 61,331 workplace discrimination charges in the US, and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recovered more than $400m in damages.

When this happens, HR is legally obligated to appoint an investigator to find out more about the circumstances surrounding the allegations and to do so in a timely and unbiased manner. This investigation might include:

• Temporarily suspending the parties involved

• Changing work schedules

• Interviewing the complainant, the accused, and relevant witnesses

To be allowed to bring a lawyer, you need to have a “reasonable belief” that you will face consequences from the investigation.

This is one of those legal terms that’s somehow both obvious and vague. Any reasonable person – say, a colleague not connected to the situation – would agree that consequences are a likely outcome.

An example might be when two colleagues both make formal complaints about each other:

• Employee A: on the grounds of discrimination

• Employee B: on the grounds of interpersonal conflict

In this case, if both parties belong to a labor union, they could reasonably request to have legal counsel in their interviews because were either investigation to rule against them, it would be highly likely they would face disciplinary procedures.

That’s a lot clearer, right?

Tips for making employees feel comfortable in an HR meeting

A big part of creating a positive workplace culture is helping employees feel comfortable and assuring them that they’ll be listened to and respected when they meet with HR.

In fact, highly engaged employees are three times more likely to say they feel heard at their workplace (92%) than highly disengaged employees (just 30%).

HR meetings are an important place to engage your staff because they’re where employees – management included – directly communicate their needs to each other. 

Here are some tips for how to make employees feel comfortable in different types of HR meetings.

Handle HR meetings with confidence

Whether you’re an employee or an HR rep, one thing is clear: You don’t need to be so scared of HR meetings anymore.

Unless an investigation is underway, employees are often more than equipped to handle HR meetings on their own, and if you’re an HR rep, we have loads of articles to help you tackle daily dilemmas.

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