This user-friendly book comes complete with forms, sample policies, checklists and other key resources you won't find together elsewhere!

Workplace Policies:

·         Complaint Policy

·         Open-Door Policy

·         Antidiscrimination Policy

·         Antiharassment Policy

·         Antiviolence Policy

Forms and Checklists

·         Ten Steps to a Successful Investigation

·         Avoiding Common Investigation Mistakes

·         Sample Complaint Reporting Form

·         Document Checklist

·         Credibility Checklist

·         Discipline Checklist

·         Investigation Report Checklist

More information is available online at www.shrm.org/books/investigations.

As featured in the October 2007 "Books in Brief" column in HR Magazine:

The Essential Guide to Workplace Investigations is a step-by-step guide to investigating and resolving common workplace issues. This legal and practical reference is packed with tips and strategies that will help sort out workplace problems quickly and legally. Author and attorney Lisa Guerin has practiced employment law in government, public interest and private practice for 15 years. She explains the steps to conducting a successful investigation that will stand up in court. Guerin also provides helpful instructions for addressing the four common kinds of workplace complaints:

-- discrimination

-- harassment

-- workplace violence

-- employee theft

The books devotes a separate chapter to each of these sensitive issues.

According to Guerin, “an investigation of discrimination is likely to trigger an emotional response” from both the complaining employee and the accused employee. (Chapter 5) There are federal, state, and local laws that determine what is protected and what is not, and not every antidiscrimination law applies to every employer. There is a chart that shows which laws prohibit what kinds of discrimination and by whom.  The author offers several examples for all the different kinds of discrimination.

In the chapter on harassment, Guerin says “harassment is an offshoot of the laws that prohibit discrimination—which means that harassment is illegal only if it is based on a person’s race, gender, age, disability, or other protected characteristic.” (Chapter 6) She explains further that, “Legally speaking, harassment is offensive, unwelcome conduct (whether words, actions, gestures, or visual displays) that is so severe or pervasive that it affects the terms and conditions of the victim’s employment.” (Chapter 6) There is a long list of interview questions for the complaining employee, the accused employee, and witnesses, as well as how to handle follow-up interviews as new information becomes available.

Although the majority of violent incidents in the workplace are perpetrated by outsiders, the section on workplace violence focuses mainly on investigating employee misconduct by current or former employees because it is the most preventable. A successful investigation starts early when there are warning signs of potential violence, not after violence has occurred, says Guerin. (Chapter 8)  The author gives some examples of ‘red flag’ behavior that should be read as warning signs and provides a list of tips for preventing workplace violence. As part of their violence prevention efforts, Guerin recommends that employers adopt an antiviolence policy; assemble a workplace violence team; provide training for teams, managers and employees, and do a workplace security audit.

Employee theft costs businesses billions of dollars each year. Guerin points out that investigating theft is usually different from investigations of workplace violence, harassment, or discrimination because the company is usually the victim, theft is unlikely to be reported and the investigation is not about who did it, but also about recovering what’s been taken.

This user-friendly book comes complete with forms, sample policies, checklists and other key resources.