Every company will have an issue that needs investigating at some point; every potential misconduct, poor performance or complaint will need to be thoroughly considered under your disciplinary, grievance or whistleblowing policy.

An investigation is a process through which you try to understand the full facts of a situation. It is important to ensure that sufficient time and focus is dedicated to an investigation as it is a critical part of the process. In order for a disciplinary procedure to be fair, it is a legal requirement that an employer carries out a reasonable investigation.

Before you start:

Your essential checklist:

• Review all evidence – if one piece of information leads to the next, follow the trail
• Treat all information as strictly confidential – only talk about the investigation to people who need to know and stress the importance of confidentiality to all people involved in the hearing
• Be objective and impartial– your job is to find and report the facts
• Keep an open mind – don’t assume guilt or innocence
• Establish the severity of the issue
• Identify all of the evidence that you may need to gather – decide who you need to interview, and do it before memories fade. Gather files, documents, CCTV footage or ask relevant parties to pull calls or IT records if you need to review them.
• Interview anyone who is implicated or who might provide extra information
• Make full notes
• Do a thorough job – ensure you have accurately represented the situation. For example, don’t just copy a couple of sentences from an email, if the whole email gives a different context.
• Write up the investigation in a word document once it has been completed. Your summary should include; the allegations made, the evidence you gathered and your findings.
• Contact FieldHR at any stage of the process – we’re here to help

Top tips

• Don’t make assumptions
• Your job is just to find out and report the facts and not to make decisions or recommendations. Your report will be provided to the person conducting the next stage of the proceedings, and it is their job to make the decision.