Australian workplaces today are legally obliged to protect employees from inappropriate, unlawful conduct in the workplace. Unfortunately, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment are still rife in many workplaces. When these issues are not handled correctly by organisations, they are of course widening their legal exposure. Each year there are an increasing number of matters that end up in court and tribunals.

We believe that in most cases (and we refer you to our White Paper here), an organisation is better off calling in an external investigator to handle a grievance rather than handle the matter themselves.

In our experience, all too often, the organisation’s approach is devoid of a systematic approach which results in grievances not being properly addressed and employees being unhappy with the complaints process.

The engagement of an external workplace investigator immediately shows that the grievance is being taken seriously and will be dealt with quickly, fairly and in an unbiased manner.

As experienced workplace investigators our procedure is:

• Fair —  everyone has the right to be heard and entitled to a support person. 
• Neutral — unbiased conclusions, not taking sides or representing either party.
• Confidential — never disclosing anything discussed outside of the process.
• Empathetic — treating all individuals with respect and care.
• Efficient — initial meetings set up within seven days.

Meet with a representative of the organisation for an overview of the situation.

• Assess what action is required and how long the investigation will take.
• Review all relevant documentation, including policies and procedures, grievance documentation and written correspondence. Interview all parties individually with a support person present if requested and take written statements.
• Interview (any) witnesses named by both parties. Examine ‘hard’ evidence if available, such as video surveillance tapes, emails and letters.
• Analyse all the facts.
• Draft an investigation report on the findings.
• Provide recommendations for dispute resolution.
• Offer risk management having identified the risks that contributed to the origins of the investigation.
• Reduce future risk by positively influencing the workplace culture to avoid the same thing or something similar happening again.