The Essential Guide to Workplace Investigations: A Step-by-step Guide to Handling Employee Complaints & Problems

Learn how to conduct a full and fair workplace investigation

Workplace complaints carry serious legal and financial risks to a company, so it’s essential to act fast when you receive an employee complaint. But an ineffective or poorly handled investigation can land your company in even more trouble than not performing one at all. It’s more important than ever to ensure your investigation is complete, impartial, and timely.

The Essential Guide to Workplace Investigations shows you how to legally and successfully investigate and resolve any type of complaint or problem. It covers common issues such as harassment, discrimination, violence, drug and alcohol use, and employee theft. This edition has updated sections on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination and handling problems in the remote workplace.

The book guides you through each step of an effective investigation, including:

• deciding whether to investigate
• planning an investigation
• interviewing witnesses
• gathering and evaluating evidence
• documenting the investigation
• and more.

With Downloadable Forms You can download all the forms you need, including sample policies, checklists, templates, and resources at Nolo.

Lisa Guerin, an editor and author specializing in employment law, is author or co-author of several Nolo books, including The Manager's Legal Handbook, and The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws. Guerin has practiced employment law in government, public interest, and private practice where she represented clients at all levels of state and federal courts and in agency proceedings. She is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley.