Workplace Investigation
Workplace Investigations Are Not All The Same
No employer wants to have a workplace investigation take place however mishandling the incident or situation can lead to further business issues leading to legal costs, profit loss, brand or repuation tarnishment or worse.
Each situation and incident will lead to a different investigation process and timeline. All relevant areas of the business will be reviewed to ensure no facts are missed, handled discreetly with the highest level of professionalsim throughout.
If employees are interviewed as a witness. victim, suspect or whistleblower, the interview process is handled legally and using the correct approach. Employee interviews are highly sensitive and at times, highly emotionally driven. Many different components are involved in the employee interviews and unfortunately employers will miss some of these components when trying to handle the investigation on their own, with limited advise, direction and requirements. Common workplace investgations include:
1. Harassment
2. Violence
3. Bullying
4. Non-compliance violations
5. Code of conduct violations
6. Safety or injury
7. Employee theft or fraud
Amy Lizzotte-Jantz, Owner of Vital Loss Prevention Consulting, started her career as a private investgator dealing with insurance fraud cases before moving into corporate asset protection. In her 20 years of managing and investigating hundreds of different incidents and scenarios in the workplace, Amy is a firm believer that investigation preparation through to investgation completion needs to be compliant with privacy laws, Employment Standards Act, Human Rights and Freedoms, Health and Safety including WSIB, is court admissable and reflects the true internal business operations. Amy still holds her private investigation license, is well versed and certifed in Wicklander Zulawski non-interrogative technique for interviewing and holds her Certfied Fraud Examiner Designation for her client's success in finding and reducing loss and risk in their business.
The poor business decisions an employer may action in the workplace complaints, injury, theft or other areas of concern are:
1. The employer will delay an investigation prompting more harm, more loss, more non-compliance.
2. The employer will not investigate at all. This level of negligence should never take place from the business. An example: statute of limitations may play a role in the investigation. A complaint can come forward months or years later leaving the employer vulnerable with no evidence, no documentation and limited support to protect the business.
3. The employer will handle the incident or situation in one conversation with the employee(s) involved and at times the employer may actually blame the employee for the situaion taking place inside the workplace.
An example of this is an employer may blame the employee harassment taking in the workplace on the employee's (victim's) actions while completely ignoring the responsibility that the employer holds to have a safe workplace for all employees. This leads to many different negative impacts to the business including legally and monetary. None of these decisons will turn out positive for the employer, in most cases, depending on the scneario or incident.
During a 1 hour consult, Amy will learn more about the situation or incident and provide guidance, employer risk areas and next steps, looking at the business' current state. Once the business collaborates with Vital Loss Preventing a prompt, discreet and professional investigation will start.
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