Workplace Investigations
- High-quality, thorough and effective workplace investigations.
- Save valuable time dealing with disciplinary or grievance issues.
- HR and employment law specialists provide professional, impartial expertise.
Need Help With a Workplace Investigation?
When dealing with a disciplinary or grievance issue, or other workplace issue which requires investigation, having an impartial investigator is an invaluable way to ensure that the process is dealt with effectively, professionally and in a timely manner.
Our experienced team of HR experts and former employment lawyers regularly deal with a large number of complex investigations for schools, charities and businesses, and ensure investigations are thorough, effective and cause minimal disruption.
We investigate disciplinary allegations, employee grievances, bullying and harassment, allegations of discrimination, whistle-blowing, employee fraud, parental complaints and breakdowns in trust and confidence, including at senior level.
Please get in touch to find out how we can support you with a workplace investigation. Our confidential, practical and solution focused approach is always guaranteed.
How We Can Help
Impartial Investigation
As we are external to your organisation, we look at the issues raised impartially. Your investigation may also be sensitive, or involve senior staff members, so an external investigator can be a real benefit.
Save Time
Investigations can be time consuming and hard for senior leaders to carry out alongside their usual duties. Investigations can span over weeks or even months, and can involve meeting with numerous witnesses and hundreds of pages of evidence.
Investigation Experts
Many of our HR consultants have previously worked as employment lawyers, so we understand how employment law requires investigations to be carried out properly, to produce a balanced and impartial report that will stand up to scrutiny, potentially in an Employment Tribunal.
Our Investigation Process
Background
The first step is for us to find out some details from you about the issues under investigation. That may be a phone call or by you sending relevant documents through to us. We will review all the relevant documents and policies and discuss the process with you.
Terms of Reference
We then work with you to prepare the Terms of Reference. This sets out the areas that we are asked to look into, the list of people that we have been asked to interview and the likely timescale of the investigation. This is a critical stage in an investigation and is often overlooked. The Terms of Reference document can be updated and changed over time, as the scope of an investigation may change, and it is worth noting that sometimes it becomes apparent that we need to interview other people and in that case we will discuss that with you and discuss the most proportionate approach.
Interviews
Having read the background documents and policies, we will then set up the interviews. We take notes of the interview and send them to the interviewee to check, amend and approve. It’s often the case that the people we interview will send us further documents, which we will consider and add to the documentary evidence. When we have interviewed everyone, we will then prepare our investigation report. Interviews can be done remotely online to save on time and cost.
Investigation Report
In the investigation report we analyse the evidence we have received in a logical and clear way and set out our findings and conclusions. We set out the evidence we have analysed in relation to each allegation and then stating our findings and conclusions.
Recommendations
If we have been asked to do so, we also set out our recommendations for the next steps. We will add as appendices to the report the notes of the interviews we have carried out and the documentary evidence we have collected. Critically, investigators are not decision makers and we will not make recommendations on possible sanctions for example, as that would be to overstep our remit. Our aim is to make our reports speak for themselves, so that the key evidence is referred to and our findings, conclusions and recommendations are clear.
Cost
We charge for our investigations work on the basis of an agreed day rate and will can provide a costs estimate once we have had an initial discussion about the work involved.
Are Your Line Managers Confident in Dealing with Employment Issues?
Managers are often expected to deal with HR and Employment issues without any training.
We offer HR & Employment Law for Managers eLearning to support and upskill managers in a variety of areas such as dealing with grievances, addressing performance issues, holding effective appraisals and much more. Brought to you by VWV Plus eLearning Solutions.
“Advice has been excellent throughout.”
“It was a constructive and positive experience working with the Narrow Quay team. We were provided with expert contextual advice and the professional, fully-engaged service helped us resolve a number of complex HR issues, aiding whole School strategic development. Highly recommended.”
Other Services
Workplace Mediation
Manage workplace conflict effectively and confidentially with our professional and impartial mediators. Find pragmatic, effective solutions for all involved.
HR Solutions & Retainers
Whether you need a monthly retained contract to help manage day-to-day HR issues, or want a trusted expert to use as a regular sounding board, we offer flexible and practical options.
Employment Contracts & HR Audit
Tailored employment documents and professional, fixed-fee HR audits ensure you have a strong, consistent and legally compliant employment practice.
