Who do you investigate?

Workplace Investigations are growing in scope as well as depth.

They can cover:

·      Complaints about sexual harassment under the new preventative duty

·      Data Protection breaches

·      Disciplinaries

·      Grievances

·      Health and Safety errors

·      Safeguarding

Customer and/or service user complaints procedures will also usually include an investigative process.

And in many cases statutory codes of practice from ACAS or the Information Commissioner (ICO) as well as technical guidance from the Equality Commission need to be baked into the investigative process. Underpinning these processes will often be trigger points for escalation to external scrutiny bodies such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Charity Commission, OFSTED, Solicitors Regulatory Authority and several more including law enforcement agencies.

Breaking news about new employment rights and responsibilities in government proposals going before parliament, including the setting up of a Fair Works Agency will undoubtedly increase the remit and scope of investigations.

When you add to this mixture phrases such as “breach of contract, burden of proof, duty of care, duty of candour, following due process, proportionality and vicarious liability” the whole landscape can seem like a Lewis Carroll maze with lots of rabbit holes!

Our new one-day course “Effective and Efficient Workplace Investigations” is not only generic but has the scope to focus on your own workplace scenario or context. There are the fixed train tracks and diversions to other specialist routes if needed.

Our  one-day course includes coverage of the: -

·      Prevailing investigative landscape for the world of work and service

·      Profile of the main statutory codes of practice, technical guidance and

       commonly expected protocols around accountability, confidentiality,

       fairness and transparency as well as equality, diversity and inclusion.

·      Common jargon and technical phrases

·      Duties of any manager who receives a complaint about a staff member

·      Benefits from informal resolution measures if appropriate

·      Positive Personal Characteristics for any Investigator

·      Six step framework needed for the start to the completion of any

        investigation

·      14 common errors that must be avoided in the investigative process

·      Case studies highlighting situations that could have been avoided

·      Various ways that situations can be resolved after an investigation’s

        outcomes are known

In working through the course, participants will focus on positive practical methods and techniques including: -

·      Active Listening

·      Assertiveness

·      Basic toolkit preparation for any investigation

·      Creating a safe and neutral environment for all stages

·      Deciding when to escalate elsewhere

·      Drafting reports to produce defensible documentation

·      Empathy

·      Interviewing Skills -Choosing the right questions

·      Judgements about confidentiality

·      Objectivity

·      Planning

·      After Care -absorbing learning points

The course can be offered at your premises or facilitated online. We will ask you for a full confidential briefing on your own context as well as sight of any prevailing policies and procedures. We are often asked to provide after care updates on the documents we see.

June 2025.