Employees
If you are faced with a workplace investigation, it’s vital that you have support. Consulting an employment lawyer will assist in effectively responding to any allegations and ensuring you are afforded procedural fairness throughout the process. Get in touch with our team as soon as possible for a confidential consultation about your rights and responsibilities throughout the workplace investigation process.
Employers
If you are initiating a workplace investigation, it’s essential to ensure that you have the correct advice and systems to conduct an investigation. If you need advice on how to conduct a thorough, comprehensive and watertight investigation or you require our firm to conduct a workplace investigation on behalf of your firm, contact us for a confidential consultation to further discuss your workplace situation.
Find out where you stand
Whether you are an employer or employee, knowing where you stand is important.
Know your rights & responsibilities
Understand your rights and responsibilities during a workplace investigation.
Ensure procedural fairness
We independently assess the situation and will ensure procedural fairness.
Employee investigations are generally initiated after a complaint is made by one employee about another employee, or can be undertaken by an employer to gather facts about an employee’s conduct which may affect their employment and their continuation of employment.
Investigations may relate to bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, misconduct, theft or fraud, or anything else that potentially breaches the employee’s contract, workplace policies and/or guidelines.
When employees are advised that they are under investigation it is essential to obtain expert legal advice to ensure that they put ‘the right foot forward’ with their response.
The result of investigations can have serious consequences for an employee’s employment and can often result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
The good news is that by engaging specialist employment lawyers you can respond to allegations effectively, ensure that you are treated fairly throughout the investigation process, and even potentially recover damages from the employer for any deficiencies in their process or treatment of you during the same.
As an employer, you may become involved in a workplace investigation in four main ways. The first is when a staff member has complained about another staff member to someone else in the company. The employer may initiate an investigation to determine the truthfulness of the allegations, and take the appropriate disciplinary action based on the outcome of the investigation.
The second instance, is where the employee is suspected of engaging in conduct by the employer that is serious enough to warrant investigation, again an investigation may be required into this conduct in order to enable the appropriate necessary management action to be taken (if any).
The third instance is where an employee makes an allegation about yourself, other management of the company (or the company itself), in this instance we strongly advise engaging our services to conduct a third party independent investigation for the Employer on a confidential basis.
Finally, the fourth instance is where a complaint is made against the Company (or an officer of the Company) from an external source, these complaints can still have a bearing on employment of officers of the Employer, so it is suggested that you engage an employment lawyer to assist with the same.
We provide expert advice on all parts of a workplace investigation and have undertaken a vast multitude of workplace investigations for employers of varying sizes in many different industries and across a vast array of circumstances. No matter the nature of the investigation, our expert employment law solicitors are well versed to assist you in any capacity, contact us today to find out how we can help.
Complete the form below and our highly qualified team will be in touch to determine if we are the right fit.
Whichever side you may find yourself on, it’s essential to have the right information and understand your rights and responsibilities. You can rely on our team to work with you to ensure a fair process and timely resolution.
Stevens & Associates Lawyers has been providing expert and comprehensive employment law services since 2004, helping Sydney employees and employers navigate a range of workplace issues.
We provide external workplace investigation services, conducting impartial investigations into formal complaints about bullying, harassment, discrimination, fraud and unethical behaviour at work, and present findings of fact. We can also comment on any apparent breaches of policy and recommend post-investigation support strategies for you to adopt moving forward.
Contact our experienced and knowledgeable team of employment lawyers today if you require support navigating workplace or employee investigations.
A workplace investigation is a process of gathering facts that relate to the conduct of an employee, or employer in some cases. The purpose of a workplace investigation is to ascertain if misconduct is taking place and to take appropriate actions to address it. This may relate to sexual harassment, bullying, theft or anything else that is in breach of employment and workplace regulations.
Employee investigations are generally warranted when allegations or complaints are levelled at an employee, which may result in disciplinary such as dismissal. It’s also crucial for employers to utilise this process if any issues may arise that relate to a breach of duty of care in the workplace.
Workplace investigations don’t just relate to conduct that takes place at the primary place of work. Conduct at work events, functions, and even events that occur outside of work but have a sufficient connection to the employment, such as employees out for drinks outside of a work location and hours, can be the focus of an investigation.
Our highly experienced team of workplace investigations lawyers can support you through an investigation, assisting you with responding to allegations and ensuring a procedurally fair investigation where your best interests are protected.
If you are facing an employee investigation, it doesn’t mean that you will automatically lose your job. In many cases, the process of investigation can work in an employee’s favour, highlighting that allegations of misconduct were not founded, or that no evidence exists to support the claim, and therefore the allegations are unsubstantiated.
It’s essential that as an employee, you are given the opportunity to properly respond to issues being raised, in a timely and fair manner. This means that an employer must outline the exact nature of the matter. If someone has made a complaint, they will be interviewed, as will any witnesses who may be able to provide additional facts and evidence. As the respondent, you will be thoroughly interviewed to ensure that your account of events is weighed against any allegations.
Stevens and Associates Lawyers provide impartial workplace investigation services and a range of other specialist employment law services.
A summary dismissal, or summary termination, takes place when an employee is fired on the spot for serious, or gross misconduct. This type of employment dismissal nullifies any requirement for notice to leave or payment in lieu of notice, and can also affect employee termination entitlements.
Due to the seriousness of this type of dismissal, it can have legal ramifications for an employer down the track if an employee can show they have been unfairly dismissed. It is generally recommended that a workplace investigation be carried out in most cases, to ensure that the employer has adequate facts and evidence to go on, and that an employee is given a fair chance to respond to any allegations.
Stevens and Associates Lawyers have extensive experience in assisting with independent workplace investigations, and can answer any questions you may have about summary dismissal or termination.
Procedural fairness in a workplace investigation relates to the necessity to show that the investigation has been done fairly. This pertains to allowing all parties the right to respond in a timely and equitable manner.
It’s imperative, and the right thing to do, to ensure:
There are many more things to consider during an investigation, which is why it is helpful to engage independent professionals to provide workplace investigation services.
Stevens and Associates Lawyers have a dedicated and compassionate team of workplace investigations lawyers who can assist with any questions you may have about procedural fairness, and also provide impartial and independent advice on how to best navigate a workplace investigation.
Workplace investigations take into account the facts and evidence that are supplied during an investigation, as well as evidence given by any witnesses, and accounts from both the complainant and respondent.
The outcome of an investigation is decided based on what is known as the ‘balance of probabilities’, which differs from a criminal case, which requires beyond reasonable doubt to be shown for a judgement to be made.
The balance of probabilities is less black and white, and it needs to be shown that it is more likely than not, that something has, or hasn’t occurred.
When there are more serious outcomes or more severe disciplinary measures involved, it’s more important to ensure the quality of the facts and evidence is of an acceptably high standard to show the balance of probabilities has been assessed fairly.
If you need more information on where you stand regarding a workplace investigation, Stevens and Associates lawyers provide advice, support and independent workplace investigations, Sydney wide. Please get in touch with our team to find out how we can help.
Specialist employment law firm Stevens & Associates offers a free and confidential initial call with one of our employment law solicitors, which our team will only use to assess if we are a good fit for each other.
A highly-skilled employment law team member will take you through our legal services, taking the time to understand your needs and goals and advise on how best to move forward with your matter.
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Talk to our Sydney Workplace Investigations Lawyers for expert advice & support.