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Investigation of disciplinary and grievance matters

The challenge for employers

"Employers are now faced with a rising number of employee grievances, and issues of poor performance, high levels of absence, allegations of harassment, bullying, discrimination, overwork and stress in the workplace. These employee problems generally require an investigation into the facts before action whether disciplinary, remedial or other can be taken. Often your own managers are busy, not adequately trained or are too involved to carry out such investigations. This is when an Eversheds HR consultant can help by undertaking a robust investigation at short notice for you."

Rosemary Harrison, Lead Human Resources Consultant

How we can help

Investigations undertaken by the HR consultancy team at Eversheds can meet the needs of your business in:

• organising and undertaking a robust, objective, transparent and fair investigation, often into complex issues of alleged misconduct, incapability, discrimination, harassment and bullying
• working to tight deadlines and evaluating and analysing complex and often conflicting evidence in an impartial and objective way and providing a clear summary of the evidence and findings
• agreeing and drawing up clear terms of reference, working within your policies and operating under best practice guidelines.

We work in close partnership with the Eversheds employment lawyers who advise clients on risks involved with employee matters and appropriate actions, including the desirability of carrying out investigations. Our HR consultants can also work for non Eversheds clients, in this case working in partnership with an in-house lawyer or another legal provider. Our consultants carry out the investigations with full understanding of employment law matters, including equal pay, discrimination, harassment, bullying and misconduct.

The investigation process

Typically, our investigating officer will manage the entire investigation and will carry out the following:

• scope the investigation and agree terms of reference, time scales, and  key issues to be investigated
• read and review any existing evidence
• write to and arrange interviews with the complainants, potential witnesses, the alleged perpetrator, ensuring all individuals understand the process and confidentiality
• produce signed and dated witness statements, gather other evidence as appropriate and evaluate
• produce a comprehensive written report with evidence, findings and conclusions and attend grievance and disciplinary hearings where appropriate
• attend review and feedback meetings, including recommending other actions or organisational issues arising from the investigation.