Workplace Investigations: Taking A Bird's-eye View

Workplace investigations can be a can of worms: you take the lid off and innumerable issues come wiggling out. Occasionally investigations are straightforward – if there is independent evidence of wrongdoing such as CCTV footage, for example – but more often there are shifting facts and opinions to pick apart. Achieving clarity is difficult and can take busy managers away from their day-to-day roles, at significant internal cost.

Initial steps have to be taken quickly but they can impact on the validity of the whole process, including any future employment litigation. Employers should have strategies in place for managing serious employment matters, just as they have disaster recovery and data breach protocols. This is perhaps particularly true for regulated financial services businesses, given emphasis on good governance and the requirement to be able to demonstrate adequate risk management systems and transparent business arrangements. If inexperienced investigators