News

Who should have access to an Investigation Report and can ‘Legal Privilege’ protect the confidentiality of an investigation report? Read More

For many HR practitioners and line managers, conducting workplace investigations can be a daunting task, even if you’ve been through training or completed investigations in the past, they present their own unique challenges…Am I following due process? Are my interview questions appropriate? Do I have enough evidence? Have I been reasonable in my assessment of the evidence? Are my findings correct? Read More

PEEL’s message to clients to take care of respondents during investigations has been reinforced in a recent case considering a workplace harassment investigation. At a recent client breakfast, PEEL shared learnings from the 2016 International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment conference. We spoke about the importance of being mindful during a workplace investigation to ensure support is also provided to the respondent. Read More

It’s great if your workplace investigation into misconduct, bullying or inappropriate behaviour can be managed internally. However, there are occasions when this is not possible or should not occur. Here are some ideas about when it is more appropriate to engage an external investigator. Read More

From our experience as workplace investigators, we would like to share our thoughts on a few ‘curveballs’ which could arise when you are conducting an investigation…  Read More

Leaders are sometimes called upon to lead a performance management process for employees where there are issues of underperformance or misbehaviour. Emotions often run high during performance management meetings which can make them difficult to manage, especially when an external party is present as a support person. But what is the role of the support person? Are they just meant to sit and listen or can they speak on behalf of the employee? Read More

The Background…  Read More

Interviewing in workplace investigations is an art. Do you know what it takes; have you got the X-factor? Apparently, it is flexibility. Dr Becky Milne, internationally renowned expert investigator, is involved in a study identifying characteristics of expert investigators and she believes the X-factor is flexibility. She provided an intimate workshop in Sydney last weektoshare her methodology in cognitive interviewing and spoke about it's transferability to workplace investigations. Read More

We all know there is a clear and important need for procedural fairness, yet our experiences show us that despite the views of the tribunals and the guidelines created by the industrial instruments, an organisations commitment to procedural fairness can be either reinforced or weakened by management actions taken at the time. Read More