Generally speaking, there is no hard and fast rule which says all interviews must be conducted face to face during a workplace investigation. Before you decide, however, that you now simply never need to conduct another face-to-face interview again with any future investigation participant, here are a few factors to consider, when conducting a telephone […]
Even the least intrusive investigation can cause participants to feel uncertain and to wonder what will happen next. Workplace relationships are likely to be frayed after an investigation. The steps you take next is important for the parties, the witnesses and the entire team and organisation. What steps should be taken to repair and restore […]
Although everyone at Worklogic approaches the workplace investigation process mindful of the well-being of participants, the process itself can contribute to the stress all parties feel. Both making a workplace complaint and facing allegations of misconduct can be confronting. And with employer-led complaints, employees who have raised concerns are sometimes reluctant participants. Before an investigation ever […]
Unless you are particularly blessed (or you’ve worked at Worklogic for your whole working career), we all have to endure difficult colleagues at some stage or another over our working lives. Whatever shape they take (be the serial (but lazy) complainer, the sociopath, the backstabber or the bully) toxic colleagues can, at best, make the […]
A well drafted set of allegations forms the basis for a procedurally fair investigation – conversely a badly drafted set of allegations runs the risk of a procedurally unfair investigation. Allegations need to be drafted in clear and precise language, and be specific and descriptive, in order that findings of fact can be made. Allegations […]
To ensure that an investigation leads to robust and defensible findings it must be based on procedural fairness. An investigation process is like a chain – it is only as strong as each step (or link), and requires all steps to be followed in order to ensure the investigation is procedurally fair. When a step […]
When serious allegations are made against an employee, an organisation may decide to appoint an external investigator to conduct a formal workplace investigation. The advantage of this approach is that (when it is done properly) it produces robust findings of fact in relation to the allegations. This then enables the employer to confidently determine the […]
The case-law is now increasingly crowded, when it comes to scenarios where there was a less than independent investigation conducted into allegations of workplace misconduct. Investigators, whether internal or external, must act independently throughout the investigation process. Too often, however, they do not. We therefore thought it timely to set out some key ways in […]
CEOs and senior managers behaving badly have hit the news again and again over the last two years. In the most recent CEO Success Study produced by PWC, an analysis of CEO turnover in the top 2500 global listed companies, found that 39% of the top executives dismissed left under a cloud of being accused […]
Are you part of a company required under the new Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019 to have a compliant Whistleblower Policy in place? The Act applies to public companies, proprietary companies designated ‘large’ (you can find relevant definitions of large here: Australian Securities and Investments Commission) and to proprietary companies that are […]