Workplace Investigations

Do you have a spare 40 hours?

If you’ve ever been involved in conducting detailed workplace investigations, you know how time-consuming and gruelling they can be.

You don’t always have the resources or skills to conduct detailed workplace investigations – and mishandling can have devastating consequences.

In such situations, we can help.

We manage workplace investigations into grievances and other serious workplace complaints. These can include allegations of bullying, harassment, discrimination, capability, misconduct, compliance and whistleblowing.

Our investigation and report service is of a very high standard. It is put together jointly by our specialist lawyers and HR consultants guaranteeing a watertight process. What’s more, it’s fast, impartial, rigorous and importantly, it is right first time – because we are experts at this.

What can you expect from Menzies Law’s Investigation service?

An investigatory report from us gives you:

expert assessment of the issues and your likely legal and reputational risks at the outset
recommendations on how to conduct the investigation stage
agreement with you on the scope and terms of reference of the investigation
identification of the witnesses and key documents involved
an objective, fair, robust and thorough investigation process, working in accordance with your internal policies and best practice
a high quality, impartial and analytical report, on which you can confidently rely

the benefit of both legal and HR specialist input
a high standard of quality and attention to detail
careful, impartial analysis and evaluation of the evidence
the likelihood of a more satisfied complainant, reassured that a thorough approach has been taken
logical, reasoned conclusions from us, using approaches that Employment Tribunals expect
a clear unambiguous summary of the evidence and findings, in addition to realistic recommendations

Commissioning our independent investigation service provides not only a high quality first stage to the disciplinary or grievance process, importantly, it often significantly improves your organisation’s legal position should the case later end up in an Employment Tribunal claim.

What are the benefits of using an external investigator?

External investigations make a lot of sense, for a variety of important reasons;

They’re efficient: It’s not unusual for a workplace investigation to take over 40 hours to complete. That’s a lot of time for your HR team and line managers to commit to, detracting from key responsibilities. We take this off your desk and we run the investigation in a smart and timely way.

They’re impartial: External investigations provide a far more impartial view than internal ones. There are no existing relationships, knowledge or biases. This can often prove very useful for reputation management, legal risk management and in order to maintain good employee relations. It’s easy for an employee to complain that an internal investigation by a manager will reach a foregone conclusion. It’s less easy to level that accusation against an external one. It sends an important message that you are taking the matter seriously.

They’re conducted by expert professionals: A good external investigator will be an expert and will have honed their skills over several years. There are few internal people truly skilled in investigations. We make sure we work with those who are.

They manage the expectations of your employees: Expectations of employees are increasing all the time and a good investigator helps manage those by providing reassurance in terms of their expertise, impartiality and speed of response.

Why use us and how do we work?

As a specialist employment law firm, we’ve dealt with many investigations into many complex allegations and they often involve conflicting evidence needing to be carefully balanced.

We know how Employment Tribunals tend to view investigations and investigatory processes. We understand, at a professional level, the sort of detail you will be expected to have gone into, the sort of probing questions you ought to have asked. We are also adept at dealing with tricky situations, such as witnesses demanding anonymity before they are prepared to speak up.

If there is a risk that the case could one day end up in the Employment Tribunal, getting Menzies Law to carry out the investigatory stage importantly increases your chances of successfully defending yourselves again a claim(s). This is because our team works holistically and the barrister or solicitor working on your investigation team will also have decades of experience as a Tribunal advocate. You’re unlikely to find that critical level of expertise with any other HR consultant or investigator.

Workplace investigations are a prime excellent example of how our ‘multi-disciplinary’ approach of pairing specialist employment lawyers and HR professionals adds value. Our different experts work together, each bringing their own experiences of what works best and how to carefully manage your legal and reputational risks.

It’s an effective blend. As a result, you can be confident that you won’t find a more capable investigation team.