Investigator Chronicles Episode 2 is live! – Watch Now
In a workplace investigation, it is not uncommon for complainants and potential witnesses to express concerns about job-related reprisals before speaking to the investigator. Recently, however, I had witnesses in two separate investigations tell me that they did not want to participate for fear of being sued by the respondent, with one witness specifically referencing
This week, approximately one million workers in France in the digital and consultancy sector won a legally-binding agreement protecting them from having to respond to email outside of working hours – that is before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. There has been much talk since about the effect that limiting email outside of working
Recently my colleague and I had the opportunity to travel to Iqaluit, Nunavut in order to provide workplace investigation training. As part of my preparation for our trip, I was introduced to the concept of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, a term for Inuit traditional knowledge and information that is passed down through oral history, customs and traditions.
There seem to be no shortage of articles and blogs these days touting the merits of conducting workplace investigations in many circumstances (we know because we write a lot of them). You read about how they can improve the workplace and help employers avoid legal liability. What you don’t often see written about is how
In addition to traditional workplace investigations, sometimes we are asked to conduct broader inquiries into concerns of systemic barriers and discriminatory policies and practices. To do so, we use a variety of information gathering techniques such as policy reviews, data analysis, questionnaires, focus groups and one-on-one interviews. As the variety of matters for which organizations
Having spent almost half of this last month training individuals on how to conduct workplace investigations, I’ve been involved in some very interesting discussions with the over 75 people who have attended those sessions. Here are some of the highlights: 1. Internal investigators are anxious to understand when they should not be the one to
Recently I was asked to conduct an investigation by an organization that had received a complaint from another organization with which they did business, on behalf of one of its employees. While many of the investigation steps will be the same as in a more traditional internal investigation, the request did raise some important process
Over the years I’ve encountered many organizations where bullying is a pervasive part of the culture. In some cases, I’ve represented victims of this behaviour. In others, I’ve conducted investigations into allegations of bullying. Sometimes this has even come up in training sessions where I’ve been asked to come and speak to employees about respect
