What if an employee informed you that he is constantly being asked to spend “personal time” with a manger from another department? You know you have to conduct an investigation, right? But before you begin, you must receive cooperation from your boss, be it the General Manager, VP of [READ MORE ...]
Every manager and HR Representative has to deal with this type of complaint at some point during their career. As a matter of fact, these complaints are reported in the work place much more often than you might imagine. There are your everyday complaints, “Danny comes in to work [READ MORE ...]
There is such as thing as constructive silence….and then there is just silence. Unfortunately some employees believe that they are protecting themselves, or their co-workers, if they simply refuse to answer any questions in a workplace investigation. But the law does not allow employers to simply state that they [READ MORE ...]
While conducting harassment investigation training, I have been asked many times, “Are we required to investigate if we receive an anonymous letter or email reporting possible harassment?” The real conundrum is whether an email or voicemail meets the definition of a complaint if there is no identifiable complainant. Still, [READ MORE ...]
Can you promise an employee that what they tell you about another employee will remain confidential? Can you ask an employee to keep the information discussed in a workplace investigation interview confidential? The answer to both questions is maybe, but not completely. Clear as mud? Many things in business [READ MORE ...]
If you ask any HR professional who has been responsible for employee relations, the majority of them will tell you they have had a conversation that started with this phrase. (I don't want you to do anything, I just thought you should know). Your response is very important, but [READ MORE ...]
Welcome to the new series! Although there are many books, white papers, seminars, etc. on the topic of conducting workplace investigations, these generally are learning tools to tech the process and the legal requirements behind the investigation. However, as any seasoned HR professional will tell you, there are things [READ MORE ...]