Investigation Process
At this stage, we are trying to establish the facts as to what has happened. We may investigate informally, with a “fact finding” meeting, gather statements from people involved, or we may hold a more formal investigation meeting, which you are given a written invite to. Based on the evidence that is found during the investigation process, we may then decide to invite you to a disciplinary hearing. In some situations, we may not need to hold an investigation meeting e.g. if you have been absent and this has triggered the sickness absence procedure, there is clear CCTV evidence but no witnesses or if you admitted to an act that breached the Company’s policies and expectations.
If a more formal investigation meeting is required, you will be invited to the meeting and interviewed as soon as possible by a relevant individual, which may be a director. You must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting. Prior to the meeting you will be sent a letter confirming the appointment along with details of the issue we are investigating. There is no statutory right for you to be accompanied at this meeting, however, we do recognise that there are situations where you may require support. We will, therefore, allow you to have a companion present at any investigatory meeting as long as their attendance does not in any way delay the proceedings. This means that they must be available on the date and at the time you have been invited to the meeting and you will be unable to reschedule on the basis of their availability.
It will be explained to you briefly as to why the meeting is needed and you will be given the opportunity to put your version of what has happened across. You will not receive detailed “allegations” as these are not known until after the investigation has taken place and it has been ascertained which, if any, rules, policies or procedures you may have breached.
After the meeting, if it is felt that a formal warning is not needed, you will be given feedback and any areas of improvement, including how these can be achieved, will be discussed with you. You will be given a letter to confirm no further formal action is being taken and what the next steps (if there are any) will be.
If after the investigation meeting it is felt, based on the evidence, that further action is needed, then you will be invited to a disciplinary hearing. At the end of the Investigation, the Investigation Officer should produce a report or written summary as to their findings. In this report they are likely to use the terms Founded and Unfounded in relation to the points they have investigated and based on the evidence they have discovered. In this context, those terms mean whether the rules, policies, procedures or expectations of the Company have been breached.
It is unfortunate that occasionally, when invited to an investigatory meeting an individual may be signed off as unfit to work by their GP. It is important to note that this delays the fact-finding process and can have the unintended consequence of causing additional anxiety to all those involved. We will always attempt to continue with the investigation in these circumstances and should you wish to give your statement to the investigatory officer, we will accept it.