Conducting Internal Investigations: Addressing Employee Complaints and Compliance Issues Toolkit | Practical Law

Conducting Internal Investigations: Addressing Employee Complaints and Compliance Issues Toolkit | Practical Law

Resources to help counsel and employers prepare for and conduct an effective internal investigation. Specifically, this Toolkit contains resources that address investigations based on employee complaints and compliance issues relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, wage and hour violations, and workplace safety and health.

Conducting Internal Investigations: Addressing Employee Complaints and Compliance Issues Toolkit

by Practical Law Labor & Employment
Maintained • USA (National/Federal)
Resources to help counsel and employers prepare for and conduct an effective internal investigation. Specifically, this Toolkit contains resources that address investigations based on employee complaints and compliance issues relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, wage and hour violations, and workplace safety and health.
Today's increasingly complex and aggressive regulatory environment means that employers must know how to respond properly to allegations of wrongdoing in the workplace. This Toolkit contains numerous resources designed to help counsel prepare for and conduct an effective internal investigation in response to employee complaints or government investigations relating to:
  • Workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
  • Wage and hour violations.
  • Workplace safety and health.
An effective internal investigation may provide enough information to enable an employer to assess its potential exposure and make strategic decisions to mitigate potential damages. The employer may be able to stop any improper conduct from continuing, and may have a solid basis for taking disciplinary action against those responsible for the wrongdoing.
However, conducting an internal investigation also involves various challenges and potential risks. Employers must be prepared to handle a wide variety of issues, such as determining:
  • When to conduct an internal investigation.
  • Who should conduct the investigation.
  • The proper scope of the investigation.
  • How to collect information during an investigation, including understanding attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine protections.
  • The appropriate actions to take in response to the investigation.

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