Do you have two or more employees in dispute and not sure whether to handle it ‘in house’? Would it be seen as potentially biased if your HR department conducted an internal investigation?

Work place disputes can quickly escalate in the heat of the moment and in the blink of an eye you have a dispute that may have serious disciplinary ramifications.

Work colleagues will often take sides, and you end up with two or more groups opposing each other, which causes division in the workplace – not a healthy environment for obtaining maximum productivity? To further add to the complexity, when employees take sides they tend to have a biased view of the dispute and it is hard to determine what actually happened.

We have 14 years’ experience undertaking complex investigations and can complete a comprehensive independent investigation into your workplace dispute, providing the facts and making recommendations that you can discuss with your legal representative.

We have experience working with local government, along with large and small companies, to quickly finalise an investigation to enable the right action to be taken to resolve the issue as fast as possible before a bad situation gets worse.

The Investigation Process We follow:

When we undertake a workplace investigation we follow the following procedure.

1. We firstly identify the basis of the complaint.


2. Identify all parties to the matter including the complainant/s, respondent/s and any witnesses.


3. Contact the identified parties and determine their availability and willingness to participate in an independent investigation. We then follow up with written documentation (written or email) detailing our role in the investigation and advising the person of their rights to have a support person present and that we intend obtaining a signed statement from the person. We further advise the person they have the right to take the statement away for review prior to signing.


4. Obtain relevant background information, including applicable policies, procedures and code of conduct documents. We also request any relevant documentation from personnel files including previous disciplinary action, details of attendance record and details of training undertaken by the complainant and respondent.


5. Prepare an investigation plan including statement templates with questions arising from the allegations made.


6. Liaise with the Employer contact regarding the most appropriate location to undertake interviews. This may include off-site locations to maintain privacy for those participating in the investigation. Schedule 4 hours to interview the complainant and 3 – 4 hours with the respondent. Typically a witness interview will last approximately one hour.  


7. Undertake interviews with all parties involved.


8. Review the information obtained.


9. If necessary, schedule a second round of interviews with the complainant and/or respondent to obtain a response to any discrepancies identified during the first round of interviews.


10. Prepare a final report stating the facts and provide recommendations regarding the appropriate course of action for the Employer to take.  

To discuss your requirements in the strictest confidence, please feel free to contact me:
Stephen Oliver
Telephone: 0418 101 164
Email: Stephen.oliver@jolasers.com.au

Alternatively, complete the form below and we will contact you.