What Steps Should Follow During the Workplace Investigation in Australia?

If you are a company owner, you might deal with frequent complaints or problems in your organization. Under such circumstances, an appropriate investigation can assist you in the right direction to identify the fault. Workplace investigation lawyers can also help your company avoid penalties and liabilities for employee wrongdoings. However, it would help if you took effective and fast actions to prevent legal hindrances in the long run. This article deals with some of the steps involved in an efficient workplace investigation.

 

Decide if You Should Investigate or Not

 

Before putting on your detective’s hat, you need to take a moment to decide whether the present situation demands an investigation or not. If you doubt an employee for attempting some wrong deeds, you do not need to hire investigation lawyers if they admit their faults or if the issue appears to be a minor one. However, if the problem is more troublesome, failure in the proper investigation can lead to legal problems, and it can hamper your reputation and ruin your business from several aspects.

 

Take Instant Actions

 

If the current situation in your workplace is volatile and can cause potential harm to your business, you need to call for immediate actions. Suppose an employee associated with your organization is accused of stealing valuable information and trade secrets, harassing coworkers sexually or carrying a weapon along with them. In that case, you will have to make instant decisions to manage the crisis.

 

Find an Investigator

 

After making up your mind, your next step is to look for well-experienced workplace lawyers in this particular field. These experts stay updated with the latest investigation techniques and have an impartial nature. If you can hire someone who meets these needs on your offered payroll, half of the process will seem like a cakewalk to you. You can also choose to hire lawyers from an independent firm to deal with the issues with professionalism.

 

Plan the Process of Investigation

 

Before executing any thoughts and taking random steps, you need to invest some time to plan the process efficiently. You need to sit with your employment lawyers in Perth and take their expert advice. Taking baby steps under these circumstances is crucial. Gather all the necessary information that you already have related to the given problem, such as:

• An employee complaint
• Written warnings
• A supervisor’s report
• X-rated emails
• Threatening letters
• Other documents or materials that are a part of the issue

You can use this information as your guide and think about the next steps that you must consider taking, such as:

• Whom do you want to interview?
• What are the questions you want to ask?
• Learn whether there are any additional documents that some other employees can have?
• Learn if there were any witnesses?

 

Conduct Interviews

 

The goal of the employment lawyers in Perth is to gather information. Follow the steps that are mentioned below while conducting an interview:

• Choose a private and neutral interview location.
• Instead of an interview, you can refer to it as a “chat about what exactly has happened.”
• Consider removing the distractions such as decorations and photos
• Be up-front and explain the motive behind conducting the interview
• Consider building a rapport with the main subject before shooting questions
• Provide water, tea or coffee to keep the interviewee hydrated throughout the process.
• After starting the interview, the workplace lawyers should maintain a specific order to prevent hindrances in the overall procedure:
• Interview the employee who has filed the report
• Interview the witness who is present during the incident
• Interview the main subject involved in the matter

 

Collect Evidence

 

Every investigation procedure relies on certain documents, email messages, personnel files, company policies etc., you need to collect this evidence to have a stronghold over the case. There are certain situations where you might need to gather evidence such as weapons, drugs, stolen items, photographs etc.

 

The entire evidence collection process can be time-consuming since collecting both digital and physical proof. Always ensure to secure all the physical evidence that you get.

 

When it comes to digital evidence, they need to be captured, authenticated and preserved in a separate computer system. The best employment lawyers in Perth are professionals in this field, and they are capable of protecting all the necessary data with top-notch care.

 

Take Actions

 

If you can figure out what exactly has happened with the help of workplace lawyers in Perth, it is time for you to take action against the culprit. Quick disciplinary actions will help you avoid legal punishments for the wrongdoings of an employee, and it will help you protect your organization from damaging your reputation. The actions can include:

• Suspension of the employee
• Taking disciplinary action against the employee
• Mediation among the employees
• Professional assessment or counseling of an employee
• Making further accommodation in the workplace
• Terminating the employee

 

The Bottom Line

 

Hiring a workplace investigations in Perth can act as a blessing for you and your company. They can help you maintain a well-established image in the market, thus assisting you in drawing traffic and engagement in your company.