The prospect of receiving an employee complaint and conducting a workplace investigation is one that raises the collective blood pressure of an organization. For a C-suite executive, the immediate concern is whether the grievance will escalate into protracted and costly litigation. For a human resources manager, the predominant issue is logistical as they will be tasked with planning, overseeing and facilitating the investigation. For a mid-level manager or supervisor, a potential investigation induces trepidation – either because the manager is the subject of the complaint or because of the impact a full-fledged investigation may have upon a department’s productivity and morale. And, for the complainant, the notion of lodging a complaint raises a panoply of emotions.

Unfortunately, far too often, workplace investigations are flawed right from the very start as they are plagued with inefficiencies, bias, ineffectiveness or unfairness. As a result of failing to conduct proper and legally compliant investigations, organizations are vulnerable to an array of negative consequences including:

• time-consuming and costly litigation;
• bad publicity;
• poor employee morale; and
• a reduced willingness of employees to report incidents or fully participate in future investigations.

In this webinar, firm attorneys provide a step-by-step guide on how to conduct an efficient investigation from the moment the organization is first advised of a workplace issue, discuss the best practices that organizations should have in place to avoid many of the common investigation pitfalls and demonstrate how an organization can proactively use investigations to reduce potential legal liability and to further organizational objectives such as employee morale and productivity.