When conducting investigations in the workplace, senior staff and human resource managers often have to deal with uncooperative respondents. Understandably, this can significantly hamper the progress of the investigation. WHat is an uncooperative respondent There are many ways in which the smooth running of an investigation can be negatively affected by an uncooperative respondent. This […]
When faced with an allegation of serious misconduct made against a worker, an organisation may seek to suspend the respondent. But in what situations is it appropriate to take this kind of action? tHE LEGALITY OF SUSPENSION When taking the significant step of temporarily suspending an employee, an organisation must be able to demonstrate […]
The issue of workplace bullying is much more openly discussed these days, and most employees are aware that they can make a formal complaint to their employers and have the matter investigated – with appropriate resolution to follow. But what happens if you are not the victim, but instead have been accused of being the […]
We first ran this blog in 2014 and from the number of comments we received, it clearly raised issues that resonated with many of our readers. So by popular demand, here it is again. We welcome your comments, as always. Bullying and harassment legislation is in place to protect employees from being bullied by their […]
Investigating Fraud? When Do You Have to Tell the Respondent? The possibility that an employee might be committing fraud can raise many emotions. As with other misconduct, disappointment can be pronounced. When fraud is suspected against either the business itself or customers, plain anger towards the potential culprit can also arise. It is this high […]
The respondent interview can be particularly challenging in an investigation. What may at first seem like a simple matter, often evolves into a more complex case after only the first interview. How do investigators handle some of the key issues around respondent interviews? Here are my responses to some commonly asked questions. Can you dismiss […]
When an employee is accused of doing something wrong (we call them a respondent in a workplace investigation), they may lose their job or worse, their reputation. Understandably, that can put people on the defensive. They may engage in a number of strategies to minimise the consequences – from refusing to cooperate, to outright denial […]