Outside Investigations

9 months ago

Employers often call an HR Consultant to conduct an outside investigation. In many cases, investigations may be the right thing to do. In some cases, other alternatives may effectuate a better outcome. Talking to an HR Consultant is helpful in determining the proper course of action.

If the issue is a nature that could be a violation of the law or clear violation of policy and if the issue that occurred was not witnessed by management, an investigation may need to be conducted. Issues relating to sexual harassment or other potential violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or other laws are very serious and having an investigation conducted ensures that you are doing your due diligence.

In other cases, you may have witnessed an issue or may have sufficient documentation on which to take action. In some situations, it may not be an issue that is a violation of a policy or the law. It may be an issue of different personalities, different styles/ways of doing things, or just a conflict between two people, in which case mediation or other organizational strategies, like conducting personality assessments may help.

One thing you don’t want to do is to take an action that is merely expedient, if you don’t know what the situation is about. If you decide to have two people mediate when one of the employees feels sexually harassed by the other, you will likely create greater issues for yourself, and the parties involved by not having an investigation conducted.

At Southwestern HR Consulting (SWHRC), we assess the situation based on information provided in order to make recommendations on how to proceed. If you have a difficult employee situation that you are dealing with and want a representative that you can talk to, contact us today!