The law is now holding you responsible for doing internal investigations the right way. Do you know what you’ll be graded on?
There are two types of workplace investigations: Employee misconduct — a worker violated company policy — and an employee complaint — another worker witnessed or was the victim of another employee violating policy. It’s your duty to conduct internal investigations. And a court can review your investigation to see whether you performed it adequately.
You don’t have to be “right”
Here’s what’s meant by “adequately”:
You made your best effort to find out who’s responsible. “Best effort” doesn’t mean getting the answer right. But the law does require you to put in the effort and come to reasonable conclusions. You should be able show your final decision and disciplinary actions were backed up by substantial evidence such as adequate documentation and witness interviews.
What’s an example of adequate documentation? Copies of the personnel files of the employees involved or suspicious e-mails sent between the victim and the accused.
Hint: Before an investigation, review the personnel files to see if there have been any prior instances of bad conduct or prior complaints. And consider how those complaints were handled.
Also, you’ll need to identify the employee had prior notice of all the applicable rules. Showing that the accused signed policies against harassment, theft or other misconduct will help.
As part of the process, make sure you give an accused employee a chance to respond to the charges, preferably in writing so that there’s a record of the employee’s reasons and defense.
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