Workplace Investigations:
The HR Manager's Step-by-Step Guide
by Jody Shipper, Equity and Diversity DIrector, University of Southern California
Cost: Just $297
Everything you need to get to the bottom of harassment,
discrimination, retaliation, and many other claims, all in one easy-to-use reference. Plus, you get a bonus CD-ROM loaded with investigation forms, checklists, sample reports, and other documents critical to the execution of a safe and effective investigation.
Consider these shocking figures: 1,486: Average number of wrongful termination,
harassment and discrimination claims filed by disgruntled employees every day $770 million: How much U.S. employers are paying annually to settle EEOC claims of discrimination
and harassment 2½ years: Average length, from complaint to
settlement, of an employment lawsuit.
When you uncover employee wrongdoing, or an employee comes to you with a complaint, you have to be ready to investigate. That's why it makes so much sense to have Workplace Investigations: The HR Manager's Step-by-Step Guide close at hand. It's loaded with practical and legal advice for asking the right questions ... knowing who to believe ... handling sensitive and treacherous situations ... gathering evidence within the bounds of the law ... making recommendations to other top executives ... getting to the truth before things spiral out of control ... and much more.
Inside this practical AND comprehensive
guide you’ll find:
Step-by-step instructions that walk you through each phase of the workplace investigation — from taking the complaint to
bringing the investigation to a close
Advice on how to keep your investigation
compliant, so it can stand up in court
Proven techniques for deftly managing the participants
involved in an investigation: the complainant, witnesses,
in-house counsel and senior management
Easy-to-follow format explaining the legal aspects of a
workplace investigation
Useful exercises that cement the investigation’s
most difficult steps: gathering relevant documents and
drafting an ironclad final report
BONUS: CD-ROM, packed with prepared checklists and
sample forms you can use in any internal investigation
Workplace Investigations: The HR Manager's Step-by-Step Guide Table of Contents
Chapter One: Preliminary Considerations
Key to a successful investigation is understanding the limit of what it can accomplish, the risks and potential rewards, and the alternatives. The opening chapter delivers a clear explanation of these issues and helps you make critical
decisions at the outset, before you’ve invested time and money in your investigation.
To investigate or not - that is the question
Unexpected benefits of a good investigation
The danger of failing to investigate
What are you investigating?
Chapter Two: Workplace Searches
When conducting an investigation involving any kind of workplace search, you’re up against competing obligations. This chapter explains how to overcome this challenge,
and find the evidence you need to get to the truth without violating employee privacy rights. You’ll gain skills and methods for uncovering essential information, and protect
your organization against charges of apathy, negligence, or worse.
Searching desks and offices
Can a workplace computer be private?
Eavesdropping and monitoring calls and e-mails
Three broad exceptions to the ECPA
Private employers: Accessing e-mail an invasion of privacy?
Public employers: Accessing e-mail a constitutional violation?
Chapter Three: Legal and Practical Considerations
Learn how to dig deep into workplace allegations without
hitting a legal sinkhole with this chapter on the risks
built into investigations and the ways around them. You’ll
understand how to execute a fair and effective investigation
that protects your employer should the accusation under
scrutiny ever make its way to court.
Sexual harassment investigations - special considerations
Disparate treatment and disparate impact
Special considerations - retaliation cases
Union settings: Labor law and Weingarten rights
Lie-detector tests
Chapter Four: Assessing Credibility and Concluding the Process
So who are you supposed to believe? Here the Guide provides you with tools for assessing credibility and reveals techniques much more advanced than the “gut feeling” HR
management and investigators have had to rely on, including important questions to ask and answer about motive, ability, proximity, past behavior, past accusations, and more.
Coming to a conclusion (and what if I can’t?)
Writing the report
Determining discipline
Chapter Five: 24 Crucial Investigation Steps
Take the guesswork and worry out of your investigation with this clear and ordered guide. It walks you through each essential step, so you don’t forget anything, or execute a task out of order. All to help you come to a reasonable and justifiable investigation conclusion.
Receiving the allegation
Selecting the proper investigator
Create a plan
Proper preparation
Interview your complaining party
Reviewing confidentiality with the complaining party
Reviewing retaliation with the complaining party
Review your notes
Leaves of absence?
Interviewing the alleged offender
Revisit your plan
Plan your questions
Seek more information
Witness interviews
Assessing personality and credibility
Discuss confidentiality
Discuss retaliation
Revise the investigation plan
Follow-up interviews
Completing the investigation
Writing your report
Coming to a conclusion
Making recommendations about discipline
Wrapping up and communicating to the parties
Bonus: Avoiding the biggest mistakes.
Chapter Six - Special Situations
Even if you’ve conducted investigations in the past, you can still encounter one that throws you a curve ball when you least expect it. Here, you get a chance to stay “ahead of the curve” with clear instructions on what to watch out for and how to handle unexpected bumps in the road to your
investigation’s conclusion.
What about an employee’s attorney?
What about a despicable person?
What about a reluctant witness?
What about the police?
What about a distraught complaining party?
What about allegations of defamation?
What about interviewing a minor?
What about an interviewee who doesn’t speak English?
What if the interviewee says, “I’m taking the Fifth”?
What about interviewing nonemployees?
What about employees who want to gossip?
What about the witness with an ax to grind?
What about the complaint filed for no good reason?
What about the employee caught on tape?
What if the complainer doesn’t want to file a complaint?
Bonus: CD-ROM Provides Critical Investigation Samples, Documents, Forms, and More
The Definitive Workplace Investigation Checklist
Sample Complaint Form
Sample Investigation Plan
“Jack and Alice” - A Hypothetical Case Study of “He Said, She Said”
Quizzes that tests your knowledge of the key components of an investigative report
Sample Letter Informing Accused of a Complaint
Four Ways to Respond to a Complaining Party at the End of an Investigation
Sample Letter Informing Accused of Disciplinary Action
State Law Guide: Disciplining an Employee for an Arrest or Conviction
State Law Guide: When It’s OK to Investigate an Employee’s Lawful Off-Duty Conduct
About the Author
Over the course of her 20+ year career, Jody Shipper has conducted literally hundreds of workplace investigations. Currently she is the Director of the Office of Equity and
Diversity for the University of Southern California, where
she investigates claims of harassment and discrimination
brought by faculty, students, and staff. In that
capacity she also provides advice on affirmative action
and diversity efforts and trains staff and faculty on harassment and
discrimination issues. Her previous work has included experience as
a director of human resources, general counsel to a large California
nonprofit agency, and as outside counsel on employment matters for
a broad range of employers in California.
In addition to litigating employment matters in state and federal
courts, she has conducted and overseen countless investigations,
lectured extensively on investigative procedures and employment
law, and provided counsel to employers on risk management,
employment practices, and legal compliance. She received her law
degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law
in San Francisco, and her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown
University.
Workplace Investigations:
