Online Workplace Investigations

Workplace investigations can be like walking through a minefield.

The risks of getting a workplace investigation wrong are significant. In an appeal or at Employment Tribunal, the applicant may use procedural failings to undermine the actions taken by the employer. Even though the employer may have been acting in good faith, the failure to investigate properly and reasonably is the achilles heel which can result in an expensive settlement or a case lost.

The Employment Tribunals apply a test called ‘The Burchell Test’ to assess if an employer has dismissed fairly following a reasonable investigation. Open any newspaper on any day to read about the reputational harm and financial cost of getting a workplace investigation wrong.

How do employers get it wrong?

• Using poorly trained internal investigators (or worse – untrained), who have a million and one other things to do .
• A lack of effective planning and unclear terms of reference.
• Investigations taking too long to complete.
• Poorly managed suspensions and communications with the parties.
• Poorly written reports with opaque or ambiguous findings.
• In smaller organizations with one HR person or an external HR consultant, we often hear stories of HR acting as the investigator, the adviser to the employer and the final determinations panel. Ie HR become the judge, the jury and the executioner. The conflicts of interest are fairly obvious.

It really doesn’t need to be this way. The next tab explains what a quality investigation should look like.

Putting the parties in complete control of the process

An investigation interview conducted in the virtual space can help to put people at their ease, speed up the investigative process and, when conducted by one of our professional and experienced investigators, can achieve the same results as a face-to-face interview. Online investigations can act also as a precursor to a face to face interview.

Key benefits of using TCM’s online investigation services include:

• A speedier and less disruptive investigation. It is often possible to conduct interviews more quickly on-line than it would be face to face, meaning that cases can be resolved speedily and participants can get back to their jobs.
• A cost effective approach. There is no need for expensive travel, accommodation or venue booking costs.
• A more comfortable environment for cases where individuals are feeling vulnerable or stressed. The virtual environment can help to level the playing field and reduce animosity.
• It offers you a global reach. Individuals, based anywhere in the world, can be interviewed and can participate in the investigation. Time Zones and national borders are no longer an impediment to a full, fair and rigorous investigation.

Getting investigations right first time.

TCM has developed a set of standards for our workplace investigators. These standards form the basis of all of our professional investigation services and investigation training courses. These investigation quality standards ensure that workplace investigations undertake by TCM are fair, thorough and robust.

TCM investigators always:

-Prepare fully and clarify the context and scope of the investigation at the outset. This includes developing clear terms of reference at the commencement of the investigation.

-Understand the legal, moral and organisational policy/procedural, frameworks relating to dignity at work, grievance, bullying, harassment and disciplinary investigations.

-Ensure that they suspend judgment and remain impartial, neutral, objective and free from bias or conflict of interest.

-Maintain effective levels of communication throughout the investigation process

-Apply rigour in their analysis of evidence and are careful in making findings supported by the facts and relevant evidence.

-Recognise the importance of seeking out mitigating or corroborating factors.

-Compile a clear, well-structured final report which will withstand
internal and external scrutiny.

-Aware of relevant tests (e.g. “Burchell”) and remain up to date with case law and precedents.

-Understand what happens after an investigation is complete and the role of the investigator at determination hearings, appeals and Employment Tribunals.

Provide all relevant information gathered during the investigation as appendices to the final report.

In addition, in some cases, TCM investigators may identify opportunities for mediation or restorative justice to help the parties to resolve an issue without the need for formal action. In these cases, you will be notified immediately and we will seek clarification from you before any action is taken.

It’s still FAIR Investigation, only it’s done online.

An online investigation works in exactly the same way as TCM’s FAIR Investigation Model™. The main difference is that the parties are interviewed in a virtual environment, most commonly a Zoom meeting.

There is no need for complicated equipment or technical expertise.  The investigator sets the meeting up and all the parties need to do is log in via a computer or mobile device.

It is also possible to share screens and annotate documents if necessary during the process. Blended interviews, where the process begins in the virtual space and continues at a later date face to face can also work well in some cases.

The Process

1. Request to investigate received at TCM along with key documents.
2. TCM investigator attends online scoping meeting. This is an opportunity to discuss chronology, key policies, sources of evidence. key witnesses, terms of reference and timescales
3. Online interviews commence and additional sources of evidence are utilised.
4. Investigator submits draft report to TCM’s Head of Investigation Services for internal quality assurance.
5. Draft report is then submitted to the sponsor. This stage may include an online meeting to discuss the draft report.
6. Final amendments are made and the investigation report is submitted with all appendices provided.

This is a summary of the investigation process. For more details please contact us on 0800 294 9787 or complete our short contact form and we’ll call you back.

Q. Surely it is better for people to meet face to face rather than online?

That’s a great question and one that we ask ourselves a lot. However, we have found that online investigation interviews are at least as good as face to face interviews. In some cases, they are even better than face to face because the parties know that they are in complete control of the process – they can literally pull the plug at any time. This is important in more serious allegations such as harassment or discrimination.

Q. How can you ensure conversations and documents shared in the virtual space remain confidential?

All parties are interviewed individually, with the interviewer and interviewee only, and are provided with a summary of the interview notes for them to review and agree.. This binds them to the same levels of confidentiality that are an accepted norm in all other forms of investigative methods.

Q. How widely is online investigations being used in a workplace context?

It is still early days, however, we are seeing more and more organisations  showing an interest in TCM Online. Online investigations account for less than 10% of all investigations that we undertake at TCM – but we expect that figure to increase rapidly in the next 12 months.

Q. How much does online investigation cost?

The fees are the same for our face to face investigation services – starting at £800 per day. Discounts are available for not for profit bodies.

Please contact us on 0800 294 9787 or complete a short online enquiry form to discuss costings further.