Learn how to conduct a full and fair workplace investigation Workplace complaints carry serious legal and financial risks to a company, so it’s essential to act fast when you receive an employee complaint. But an ineffective or poorly handled investigation can land your company in even more trouble than not performing one at all. It’s more important than ever to ensure your investigation is complete, impartial, and timely. The Essential Guide to Workplace Investigations shows you how to legally and successfully investigate and resolve any type of complaint or problem. It covers common issues such as harassment, discrimination, violence, drug and alcohol use, and employee theft. This edition has updated sections on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination and handling problems in the remote workplace. The book guides you through each step of an effective investigation, including • deciding whether to investigate • planning an investigation • interviewing witnesses • gathering and evaluating evidence • documenting the investigation • and more. With Downloadable Forms You can download all the forms you need, including sample policies, checklists, templates, and resources at Nolo.

Employee complaints are a cost of doing business. If you want to reduce those costs and earn employee trust, you must address employee complaints by conducting effective workplace investigations. But this is not just another CYA guide. Author and Attorney Kelly Charles-Collins, an authority in HR issues and Employment Law, offers a fresh perspective on conducting workplace investigations. With over 20 years of experience successfully defending companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, Charles-Collins reframes the risk management discussion around workplace investigations from reactive to proactive - focusing on the benefits rather than the burdens. Using a case study and interactive exercises, you will discover how to: - Save time and money by standardizing your investigative process - Enhance your company atmosphere, culture, and environment - Convert your "peanut gallery" employees into your "raving fans" - Preserve company assets without sacrificing employee satisfaction and productivity. Revolutionize your thinking. Whether you are a business owner, Human Resources professional, or member of the management team, embrace the opportunity to find out what is going on in your business, affecting your employees' productivity, eroding employee trust, and ultimately impacting your bottom line. Whether you are a business owner, Human Resources professional, or member of the management team, ACE Your Workplace Investigations, is Your Step-by-Step Guide for Avoiding Friction, Covering your Assets, and Earning Employee Trust.

Whether you are a professional licensed investigator or have been tasked by your employer to conduct an internal investigation, Investigations in the Workplace gives you a powerful mechanism for engineering the most successful workplace investigations possible. Corporate investigator Eugene Ferraro, CPP, CFE has drawn upon his twenty-four years of practical experience to craft a book that dispels the myths and troublesome theories promulgated by the uninitiated. He provides the back-story behind the methodology, rationale, and gritty practices that have made his workplace investigations soar. But most importantly, he shares this knowledge with you. The book is designed for easy reading and use. Although every page is filled with useful information, you do not need to read the book cover to cover. The exhaustive table of contents, innumerable references, and expansive index allow you to quickly find the immediate information you need. The Applied Strategies chapter shows you how to conduct a particular type of investigation and the action steps involved. To help capture salient points and simplify the learning process, the text is sprinkled with brief Tips and Traps that provide quick and easy lessons on how to make the best use of the information in a particular section. Few workplace activities invoke so much risk and at the same time, so much opportunity, as workplace investigations. A combination of skill, experience, and luck: successful workplace investigations are complex undertakings. An improperly conducted workplace investigation can be expensive and ruin the careers of everyone who touches it. Exploring modern investigative technique and strategies, this book gives you new solutions you need and provides the keys to master even the most complex workplace investigation.

Thorough, fair-minded and practical information for employees, managers and business owners. Paula Brantner, Program Director, Workplace Fairness