Johnathan Baldree

1. Decide whether to investigate. Before you put on your detective's hat, take some time to decide whether you really need an investigation. In a few situations -- for example, if all employees agree on what happened or the problem appears to be minor -- you may reasonably decide that a full-blown investigation is unnecessary. Usually, however, it's best to err on the side of conducting an investigation. If the problem is more serious than it seemed, failing to investigate can lead to legal trouble -- and continuing workplace problems. And sometimes, you just can't tell how widespread or substantial a problem is until you do a little poking around. 2. Take immediate action, if necessary. You might have to act right away -- even before you begin your investigation -- if a situation is volatile or could otherwise cause immediate harm to your business. If an employee is accused of sexually assaulting a coworker, stealing valuable trade secrets, or bringing a weapon to work...

OBJECTIVITY • Take allegations seriously. • Don’t take the role of “one of the guys” as it questions your sincerity. • Don’t promise confidentiality, but try to maintain it to the extent possible. Depending upon the end result, you will probably not be able to keep a promise of confidentiality because disclosure may be compelled. You can tell a witness that you will attempt to share remarks with only persons who have a need to know (i.e., management, etc.). • Do not tell witnesses what other witnesses had to say (unless you are interviewing the accused or attempting to obtain information from a hostile witness). • Do not discuss your thoughts, opinions, conclusions, conversations, etc. • Avoid oral agreements (i.e., deal making, etc.) Johnathan Baldree -“How to Conduct a Work Place Investigations) GENERAL DEMEANOR DURING THE INTERVIEW • Relax; Conversational style. • Put the witness at ease. • Balance comfort with need to focus on investigation. • Focus on interview quest...

When an employee makes a complaint, either through the company’s hotline, verbally to his or her manager or through any other avenue, it’s important for the company to start the internal investigation process quickly. If you’re involved in handling internal investigations for your business, there are steps and tools that can improve your effectiveness in managing all parts of an internal investigation. These eight steps can help you improve the investigation process in your workplace. 1. Follow Workplace Policy It’s important to follow the company’s policies for handling different types of allegations (harassment, discrimination, privacy, theft, etc). Workplace policies may dictate that different types of complaints require different procedures. In addition, the company code of conduct is a great place to start gathering information on the behavior that is expected of employees and to determine whether the activity being reported violates workplace policies. Aside from ...