When workplace investigations hit the headlines, the risks can escalate quickly.

Suddenly, employers are dealing with media attention, social media commentary, employee concerns and potentially serious reputational risk – all while trying to conduct a fair and effective investigation.

We were recently privileged to host the International Employment Lawyer’s Workplace Investigations Masterclass, which included three lively and engaging panel discussions. Each was designed to address the thorny issues which can and often do arise in such situations, with valuable insights from a variety of panellists whose work (whether in-house or in private practice) keeps them at the coalface of workplace investigations.

In our view, the learnings from the sessions were too good not to share, so we have asked Squire Patton Boggs’ James Pike (Partner) and Sarah Wilkinson (Director), both of whom have significant experience in carrying out workplace investigations and were panellists in two of the sessions, to share their five key takeaways from the event, with the first two below and three to follow.

1. Make sure you have the right team in place
   
   When an investigation comes across your desk, a key first step must always be to consider who will be the appropriate person/team to conduct it.

   A key part of this will be to ensure that you obtain a clear understanding of the specific factual issues which need to be determined, and who is best placed to do so. The answer to this will depend on both...

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