Workplace Investigations

Because at the Labour Court the question is rarely whether it happened — it is whether the employer established that it happened, fairly, before deciding. Dismissals fail on procedure far more often than on facts, and an investigation done in two days is far cheaper than reinstatement or compensation a year later.

Dismissal without severance on serious-misconduct grounds is possible, but it is time-limited and form-bound: the ground must be stated in writing at dismissal, and the law sets a window after the employer learns of the misconduct within which action must be taken. Investigating properly and acting late are both fatal, which is why the investigation is planned against that clock from day one.

Often yes, but not without limits — the basis for processing, what the employment documents and privacy notice already told staff, and proportionality all matter, and personal data swept up along the way carries its own obligations. Evidence obtained the wrong way can be worth less than no evidence, because it hands the employee a separate complaint.

Sometimes it is necessary — where evidence or colleagues could be affected — but suspension is regulated: it needs a basis in the work rules, written notice, a defined period and payment during it. Suspension treated casually turns into an unlawful deduction claim on top of the original matter.

Yes — as an external investigator, which also removes the awkwardness of HR investigating a colleague and the perception of a predetermined outcome. Alternatively we brief and supervise your own investigator. Either way the decision stays with the company: our report gives findings and options, not the dismissal. That decision, and the payments attached to it, sit with our Employee Discipline & Termination page.