Managing & Conducting Employee Investigations - An Advanced Guide

Introduction

This interactive workshop will ensure you understand the legal and practical requirements relating to investigations within your organisation.

You will be given the opportunity to share your own experiences and have your practical questions answered. The course will be suitable for line managers, HR professionals and for anyone in senior roles who has responsibility for employee investigations.

By the end of the workshop you will be able to:

• Manage a full investigatory process including effective recording
• Make clear judgements and decisions on when to commence a formal investigation and what action to take following its conclusion
• Judge when and when not to suspend an employee prior to or during an investigation
• Structure and conduct an effective investigation by using the appropriate questions and techniques
• Establish key facts on which to base decisions

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• Current Disciplinary and Grievance Laws
• The role of disciplinary procedures
• ACAS code of practice
• The commercial and legal consequences of not following procedures
• Legal burden of proof
• Where the investigation stage fits within this structure
• Investigations - A Structured Approach
• The importance of investigating the facts properly
• Planning and managing the investigation stages effectively
• Roles of investigator, line manager and HR
• Evidence gathering and how to sift out irrelevant information
• Dealing with witnesses
• Case studies
• The Investigation Interview
• Avoiding the pitfalls
• Structure of the interview
• Questioning techniques
• Planning the interview
• Roles of those involved at the interview stage
• Managing tricky and challenging witnesses
• How to analyse and evaluate evidence
• Case studies
• Concluding the Investigation
• Making a decision
• Communicating that decision
• The investigation report
• What to do once the investigation stage has concluded