Every employer will eventually have to conduct an investigation into one or more of its employees. Employers are increasingly understanding the value of workplace investigations in identifying and preventing problems from recurring.
Many regulations governing employee relations effectively require businesses to conduct investigations in order to meet their legal obligations. Any employer who knows or should know about a discrimination, harassment, threat, or safety problem faced by an employee has a general duty to take timely and effective corrective action to end the problem. The employer must research the problem and gather the facts in order to decide what action to take or whether action is even warranted. Employers who neglect to examine such situations frequently lose any claims or lawsuits filed by employees in reaction to the problem.
