The document provides guidance for managers conducting investigations as part of disciplinary and grievance processes. It discusses determining the appropriate investigator, timelines for investigations, interviewing witnesses, gathering evidence, reaching conclusions, and writing investigation reports. Key points covered include considering an investigator's experience and access to information, objectively justifying investigation timelines, explaining the purpose of interviews, allowing accompaniment during interviews, accurately capturing interview content, evaluating different types of evidence, and reviewing evidence objectively to reach conclusions.

1. Extract from Managers Toolkit – Example of work
The following pages show an extract of a management toolkit that I produced to
support the implementation of new disciplinary & grievance policies where
managers were beginning to be upskilled to handle situations without hands-on
HR involvement.
The full toolkit was accessible via the organisation's intranet via flowcharts
detailing each step of the process. It enables managers to select the specific step
in the process that they are involved with so that they can obtain pointed direction
on that step. It can also be used to train new line managers on the full process.
Each step in the process had its own intranet page which included a full guidance
document (as shown here) plus other resources such as scripts, template letters,
bite-sized tip sheets, checklists and links to policies or other useful information.
These documents were branded to match other documents connected with
cultural change. All branding has been removed from this example of my work

2. Who is the right person to investigate?
How quickly should an investigation be
completed?
Beginning an investigation
Investigation Guidance
Where you see this symbol 
more detailed guidance can be
found
Generic guidance applicable to disciplinary, grievance and safety matters
Interviewing witnesses
Gathering other evidence
Reaching your conclusion
Writing an investigation report
Can people asked to be accompanied?
Capturing what is said during interviews

3. Who is the right person to investigate? (1)
There is no single answer for this as the circumstances of the
case need to be considered. Things to take account of
include:
•
How much operational/technical knowledge is required
•
How serious is the matter
•
Is there a need for an independent person to examine the
evidence
•
How much time will the investigation take
Where it is not clear who should be the investigating
manager, discuss this with your line manager to take advice.

4. Who is the right person to investigate? (2)
Investigating managers should:
•
Be part of a management team – team members shouldn’t be
asked to carry out investigations
•
Have sufficient time to complete the investigation – take
account of workloads and planned holidays etc.
•
Have experience of carrying out investigations – an
inexperienced manager can be supported by an experienced
manager as a development process
•
Have access to the relevant data – if confidential data needs to
be examined, ensure the manager can be given access
•
Fully understand the need for confidentiality and impartiality
•
Be prepared to reach difficult conclusions

5. How quickly should an investigation be completed?
(1)
The nature and complexity of the issue will dictate how
much time it will take to complete an investigation.
Unnecessary, unreasonable or unacceptable delays can:
•
Cause distress to those involved
•
Undermine the fairness of any formal procedures
•
Expose the Trust to risk if corrective measures are not
quickly adopted
•
Impact on people’s ability to proper recall events
•
Impact on obtaining other evidence

6. How quickly should an investigation be completed?
(2)
The length of time an investigation takes must be objectively justified.
Keep records of any delays. Acceptable reasons for delay may include:
•
Key witnesses being unavailable
•
Reports being requested from external sources
•
Where there is a lot of data to examine and analyse
•
Sickness absence of key individuals where they are unfit to
participate
It is accepted that not all work commitments can be put on hold while
the investigation takes place but simply saying that an investigation
couldn’t be completed due to work priorities would not be considered
reasonable.

7. Beginning an investigation
Before beginning an investigation, it is important that you are clear
what you are investigating. While any investigation may reveal other
things, you still need to reach a conclusion that addresses the initial
matter. Try devising an investigation plan before beginning:
•
Who would you want to speak to and in which order?
•
What information might help you understand what happened?
•
Think about the questions you need answering
•
What assumptions can you make and still be objective?
•
What assumptions can’t you make without affecting your
objectivity?
•
Clear sufficient time in your diary
Be prepared to revise any planned approach as your investigation
progresses.

8. Interviewing witnesses
It is likely that you will need to carry out at least one interview as part of your
investigation:
•
Explain what you are investigating – where sensitive or confidential
matters are involved, make a judgement as to what is appropriate to share
•
Explain why you are speaking with them – if a disciplinary hearing might
be a recommendation, be clear whether their evidence will be used
•
If an individual may face a disciplinary hearing as a result of the
investigation, be clear about this at the start
•
Be clear it is a fact-finding exercise and not a hearing of any sort
•
Try to put the person at ease – people may be feeling very anxious
•
Try not to give reassurances unless you are absolutely certain of the
outcome
Use our interview checklist for further tips 
Further information about witness evidence is available 

9. Can people asked to be accompanied?
There is no requirement under legislation or our policy to allow people
to be accompanied or represented at an investigation meeting.
But, if it can be arranged quickly and easily so as not to impact on the
timescales for completing the investigation, there is no reason why you
shouldn’t let someone join them during any meetings. It can often help
to address an individual’s anxieties.
In most cases, it should be an internal colleague or Trades Union
representative unless there are exceptional reasons for allowing an
individual to be accompanied by an external party. Please take further
advice if this is requested.
The accompanying person should not be involved in the answering the
questions or try to influence the manner of information that is
discussed in any way.

10. Capturing what is said during interviews
Taking an accurate note of what is said to you is crucial to any
conclusions you draw. Here are some key points:
•
Ask someone to take notes for you
– Ensure that they are clear on the confidentiality of the process
– Ensure that are not likely to be involved in any other part of the
process
•
Type up the notes as soon after the meeting as possible
•
Try to avoid using a laptop to type notes as this can create a physical
barrier which prevents people from opening up
•
Ask the interviewee to review your notes to confirm accuracy – put
deadlines for comments and amend so it doesn’t delay things
•
It isn’t appropriate to use any recording equipment in any employee
meetings – the notes do not need to be verbatim

11. Gathering other evidence (1)
It is unlikely witness statements alone will be sufficient to conclude
your investigation thoroughly. Typical types of evidence could be:
•
Phone records – obtain copies of phone bills to identify who
contacted who, when, how long and how often
•
Outlook calendar meetings – to help demonstrate where an
individual was on a certain day
•
Copies of e-mails
•
GPS reports – these can help demonstrate patterns of work and
where individuals were at any given time
•
Web usage – obtain reports on general activity
•
Safety documents such as method statements and risk assessments
•
Financial reports

12. Gathering other evidence (2)
•
Timesheets, overtime claims and expense submissions
•
Copies of rotas
•
Customer or employee correspondence – be careful to
remove personal or sensitive data (including names as
appropriate) and be clear about who it will be shared with
•
Team meeting notes – to help establish what was covered and
who was present
•
Performance Review forms and records or other 1-2-1
meetings or discussions
•
Self-certifications or medical certificates
•
Training records
•
Evidence of working practices

13. Reaching your conclusion
Once you have gathered all of the evidence, you need to review everything and
decide what your recommendations will be:
•
Think about the original issue you were investigating
– Does the evidence gathered give you enough information to reach a definite
conclusion?
•
Challenge yourself to look at the evidence objectively
– Don’t make assumptions about what each piece tells you in isolation
– Take into account how individuals’ emotions may have impacted on their
evidence
– Look at the collective picture
– Does it support or undermine a particular set of circumstances
– Review evidence on the balance of probabilities
•
Consider carefully evidence that you were not able to find
– Does the lack of evidence available point to a different conclusion
– Would it be reasonable to expect to find evidence to support a particular set of
circumstances?

14. Writing an investigation report
The style of your report depends on the purpose of your investigation:
•
A template disciplinary report is available to act as a guidance
rather than to be followed rigidly 
•
In grievance situations, it may not always be necessary to compile a
full report. This will depend on:
– What investigations were required
– How you are feeding back the outcome
– Whether a report is required to advise managers only on where
improvements are needed
•
Safety investigations may require specific formats depending on the
type of incident being investigated. Speak to the Safety team for
further guidance
More tips for report writing are available 