TGC Articled Student Kemily Ho attended at a presentation hosted by the CBA Labour and Employment Law section on April 26, 2016, that addressed how to conduct successful workplace investigations.
Some important takeaways from the meeting for employers include:
(1) Consider a workplace assessment, which is less adversarial than a workplace investigation, in order to limit potential exposure to liability and to resolve problems at an early stage.
(2) Make sure to have clear terms of reference in place from the outset in order to manage expectations.
(3) Consider retaining a lawyer as a third-party, neutral investigator when dealing with complex or sensitive workplace issues. The advantages for an employer of using a lawyer as a third-party investigator include:
- receiving a legal assessment as part of the investigation;
- maintaining a measure of privilege or confidentiality over aspects of the investigation; and
- limiting the perception of bias or impartiality of the process.
TGC lawyers have experience conducting workplace investigations. You can read more about how we can assist your workplace here.