Workplace Investigation – Employee Rights UK

Unfair Workplace Investigation Employee Rights UK

This webpage will assist you in knowing your employee rights UK if you are subjected to an unfair workplace investigation.

These are the 11 steps you should take if you are subjected to an unfair workplace investigation:

This page last updated 7.7.26.

Questions we commonly get asked by employees when subjected to a workplace investigation:

I am being investigated at work what are my rights UK?
Workplace investigations employee rights uk?
Unfair investigation at work UK?
Workplace investigations employee rights?
How to beat disciplinary hearings?
If I’m under investigation at work should I be suspended?
What happens after an investigation meeting?
What are my rights when being investigated at work?
How much notice for investigation meeting?

This webpage answers the above questions so that you know your employee rights UK if you are being unfairly investigated at work.

If you have been subjected to a performance improvement plan, and want to know how to beat the performance improvement plan or how to fight a performance improvement plan, including performance improvement plan employee rights, click here.

If you have been suspended from work, click here.

If you want to know how to beat a disciplinary hearing click here.

Please also visit our webpage on the top 20 tips on how to write a grievance letter to your employer for (i) work-related stress; (ii) bullying and harassment at work, and (iii) discrimination at work.

Unfair Workplace Investigation UK:

On the balance of probabilities, the following scenario has already played out, which is how you found this webpage.

You were invited by your manager to attend a meeting with short notice, usually less than two hours.
You were not told the nature of the meeting in advance of the meeting, despite you asking.
Upon entering the meeting room, a member of the HR Department was present.
You were then subjected to a hostile, oppressive, and intimidating grilling with no evidence being offered to support the allegations against you.
You left the investigation meeting feeling upset and angry.
You want to know your employee rights UK.
You were denied the right to have a companion.
You were not offered a copy of the minutes of the workplace investigatory meeting.
You were not informed of your employment rights despite being subjected to a workplace investigation.
You were not provided with a copy of the disciplinary policy either before or after attending the disciplinary investigatory meeting.
You were instructed not to talk to any of your workplace colleagues about the workplace investigation meeting

How do we know all of the above? Because the same scenario has been played out time and time again by your employer, and they have got away with it.

Step in Sam Stone!

Note: If after attending the workplace investigatory meeting, your were frogmarched off the premises like some kind of common criminal, then it is really important that you reach out to us on – myrightsuk@protonmail.com.

These are the 11 steps to take if you are subject to an unfair workplace investigation:

However, if you are fortunate enough to read this webpage before being invited to a workplace investigatory meeting, these are the steps, which my wife Amy & I would take:

Play for time. Ask via email for an agenda of the workplace investigatory meeting in advance of the meeting.
Ask that the agenda of the workplace investigatory meeting is sent to you via email.
Ask who will be present at the workplace investigatory meeting, and question why their presence is necessary. Do this via email.
Ask your employer under which policy and procedures you are being subjected to a workplace investigation.
Ask to record the workplace investigatory meeting. Do this via email.
Chances are, your employer will refuse to allow you to audio record the workplace investigatory meeting. Please visit our webpage on covert recordings.
Access any work emails, which you feel are relevant, and which you may later want to rely upon at a later date germane to any workplace investigation, which you are subjected to.
Do NOT send work emails to your personal email address. Instead, take screen shots, cut and paste the emails into a new document and print them off, or alternatively, stick the emails on to a USB.
Make sure you do NOT breach your employer’s IT Policy regarding saving or storing emails, or you could be sacked.
Chances are, straight after the workplace investigation meeting, you will be suspended and access to your emails removed.
Ask to be accompanied to the workplace investigatory meeting by a workplace colleague. This request will likely be refused, as there is no statutory right to have a workplace colleague at an ‘investigatory meeting’. However, if you have a medical condition such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD, autism, cancer, asthma etc, it would be disability discrimination if your employer refused your right to be accompanied to the workplace investigatory meeting.

If you are not sure of your employment rights UK, and you want our help if you are subjected to a workplace investigatory meeting, reach out to us during business hours 9-5 on 07775943414 or contact us via email at myrightsuk@protonmail.com

We only charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour, and £50 an hour thereafter.

You don’t have to face this workplace investigation alone. If you would like to discuss the workplace investigation with us, reach out to us! Sometimes, just talking through your employment issues can give you a new perspective on what to do, and furthermore, how to go about doing it. We can hold your hand throughout the entire disciplinary process from beginning to end. We can assist you in avoiding the common mistakes, which we see employees make when going through a disciplinary process with their employer. Reach out to us on 07775943414 or email us at myrightsuk@protonmail.com

We work 7 days a week, 9-5 UK time, because we know all too well that your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon! Go on, pick up the phone and call us!

Here are the steps to take if you have been suspended from work or are subjected to a workplace investigation:

Step 1 – Unfair Workplace Investigation UK:

Suspended:

Whether or not you have been suspended from work by your employer or its HR Department, we would suggest that you read the following paragraphs by reason that just because you have not yet been suspended, is not to say that you won’t be suspended once a disciplinary workplace investigatory meeting has been conducted by your employer.

If you have already been suspended from work pending a disciplinary workplace investigation, then it is incumbent upon you to object, protest and challenge the decision by your employer to suspend you by raising a letter of grievance.

Amy and I have two websites with differing content on suspension:

www.formalgrievance.com has a ‘grievance letter template’ you can use in the event you have been suspended from work, which template includes case law. The Court of Appeal held in paragraph 12 of Mezey v South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust [2010] EWCA Civ 293, that suspension from work is NOT a neutral act:

“Suspension changes the status quo from work to no work, and it inevitably casts a shadow over the employee’s competence. Of course this does not mean it cannot be done, but it is not a neutral act.”

www.letterofgrievance.com outlines your employee rights UK pending suspension from work.

Amy & I would strongly recommend that if you have been suspended from work after a workplace investigatory meeting, that you ‘object, protest, and challenge’ your employer’s decision to suspend you by using the suspension letter template to raise a formal grievance letter. For the avoidance of doubt, if you do NOT ‘object, protest, and challenge’ your employer’s decision to suspend you, then you ‘affirm and acquiesce’ what the employer has done by suspending you from work.

No doubt, your employer would later argue in the employment tribunal that if you felt that the decision to suspend you was wrong, that on the balance of probabilities, you would have raised a formal grievance letter to complain about being suspended from work.

In the case authority of Mr J Hargreaves v Governing Body of Manchester Grammar SchoolUKEAT/0048/18/DA, the Employment Appeal Tribunal drew an ‘adverse inference’ on the fact that the claimant had not advised his employer (the respondent) in writing that his suspension was “inappropriate”.

The above case authority is very important and well worth reading, not least because the above case law demonstrates why you must not just be a nodding donkey during the course of a workplace investigation meeting or disciplinary process, but to be proactive in raising any grievances or objections in the way the workplace investigation meeting has been or is being conducted.

Notwithstanding, the aforementioned case of Mr J Hargreaves v Governing Body of Manchester Grammar School outlines just how utterly useless the union representative was in advising the employee during the disciplinary workplace investigation meeting. As such, don’t be led by the nose by the union.

If you have actually been suspended from work after a workplace investigatory meeting, then get in touch with Amy or myself 07775943414 (9-5 UK time).

Amy & I have over 26 years combined experience as employment consultants. Amy & I have helped thousands of clients over the years. If you have not already read the testimonials page on this website, we urge you to do so now.

You only get one chance to get things right during a disciplinary investigation, so make sure you do just that!

Amy & I can have a telephone consultation with you if you need help on any of the following matters:

Visit our testimonials page.

Reach out to us at: myrightsuk@protonmail.com or call during working hours 9-5 on 07775943414.

We charge £35 for an initial telephone consultation up to one hour, and £50 an hour thereafter.

Step 2 – Workplace Investigatory Meeting Employee Rights UK:

First Mistake – do not get ambushed by your employer into attending a workplace investigation meeting.

Most employers will want you to attend a workplace investigatory meeting quite quickly to investigate your conduct. Ascertain whether the persons involved in the workplace investigatory meeting or investigatory process have a conflict of interest in undertaking the workplace investigation and/or could demonstrate bias. If the persons undertaking the investigation do have a conflict of interest, you need to raise a formal grievance letter.

If you are ambushed into a workplace investigatory meeting without advance notice of the investigatory meeting, we would recommend you immediately ‘object’, and moreover, ask that the workplace investigatory meeting is postponed pending you receiving an agenda of the workplace investigatory meeting, and furthermore, the nature of the allegations, which have been made against you.

If your employer objects to postponing the workplace investigatory meeting, we would ask on what grounds and for what reasons your employer is objecting.

If the employer still does not agree to postpone the workplace investigatory meeting after you object, we would ask the employer to allow you to audio record the workplace investigatory meeting on your i-phone.

If the employer still objects to you making an audio recording of the workplace investigatory meeting, then personally, I would excuse yourself from the investigatory meeting and inform the persons holding the workplace investigatory meeting that you need to seek legal advice before continuing with the workplace investigatory meeting.

If you are instructed to ‘sit down’ or are placed ‘under duress’ to continue with the workplace investigatory meeting against your own wishes, I would raise a verbal grievance (and follow the verbal grievance up by submitting a formal grievance letter in writing via email) to say that the persons conducting the workplace investigatory meeting have acted, and are acting in a manner calculated to seriously damage the implied term of mutual trust and confidence.

Dear Sirs,

I was today ambushed into a workplace investigatory meeting without any advance notice of the purpose of the meeting or the nature of the meeting. I was then subjected to a barrage of questions, which created a hostile, oppressive, and intimidating working environment. I found the workplace investigatory meeting undignified. Moreover, the manner in which the workplace investigatory meeting was undertaken was an affront to my dignity. My employer has acted, and is acting in a manner, which is calculated to seriously undermine the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. As such, I will be following this complaint up with a more detailed complaint in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Step 3 – Employee Rights Workplace Investigation UK – Reasonable Adjustments:

If you have any medical condition, which medical condition is exacerbated by stress such as asthma, ADHD, eczema, anxiety, cancer, depression, thyroid, IBS, diabetes, heart condition, dyslexia, asperges, PTSD, then you need to ask your employer to stop the workplace investigatory meeting with immediate effect by reason that the reasonable adjustments, which you need, have not been implemented:

I would like to place on the record that I am objecting to the continuation of the workplace investigatory meeting by reason that no reasonable adjustments have been put in place for my medical conditions. This omission is to my detriment, and is a relevant failure of a statutory duty under the auspices of The Equality Act 2010. To this end, I object to the discriminatory way in which this workplace investigatory meeting is being conducted, and will be raising this matter as a formal letter of grievance in due course. To this end, I suggest the workplace investigatory meeting is postponed and a referral made to occupational health.

The reasonable adjustments for a workplace investigatory meeting can include the following:

Undertaking the workplace investigatory meeting via written form (via email) to ameliorate the stress and anxiety of attending an investigatory meeting in person or via video link. Don’t be caught like a rabbit in the headlights!
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To ask the employer to communicate with you only by email, and not to telephone you as to do so will ‘significantly influence’ your disability / impairment / medical condition. For example, stress can trigger anxiety attacks and asthma attacks.
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To provide you with a specific list of questions in advance of the investigatory meeting, which questions your employer wants to ask you.
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To ask your employer to send all correspondence germane to the workplace investigation (via email), and no less than 5 days prior to the workplace investigatory meeting taking place. This will render you with enough time to look through all the evidence against you in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting to prepare your statements in advance, and furthermore, to compose yourself, and what you are going to say at the investigatory meeting. Remember – piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance.
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To seek advice of occupational health before continuing with the workplace investigatory meeting.

Note, if the employer or the HR Department ‘significantly influence’ a disability by causing you unnecessary stress or anxiety when conducting a workplace investigatory meeting, this could be a potential contravention of s.15(1)(a)(b) of The Equality Act 2010, viz: unfavourable treatment on protected grounds of disability.

For the avoidance of doubt, the discrimination does not need to be intentional.

Put shortly, where the complaint is of ‘discrimination arising in consequence of disability’ it may be enough if the disability was a ‘significant influence’ on the treatment or a cause that was not the main or sole cause but that was an effective cause. See Private Medicine Intermediaries v Hodkinson & OrsUKEAT/0134/15/LA (paragraph 25).

Thus, if you have a disability, impairment or medical condition, which is exacerbated by stress, I would suggest you reach out to Amy & I to assist you – myrightsuk@protonmail.com.

If you have a disability or impairment, and the employer / HR Department omits to put in place reasonable adjustments for the disciplinary investigatory meeting, then raise a grievance letter for contraventions of s.15(1)(a)(b); s.20(3); s.21(1)(2) & s.39(5) of The Equality Act 2010.

If your employer asks you to be assessed by occupational health to ascertain your fitness to attend a workplace meeting visit our webpage on what not to say to occupational health, and also attending sickness absence meetings.

Remember, the best defence in being subjected to a workplace investigation is to go on the offensive. Put shortly, if the employer is drawing an adverse inference on something that you have done wrong and is subjecting you to a workplace investigation, then you need to turn the tables on your employer, especially when the employer, its HR Department, and management of the organisation have breached your statutory rights under the auspices of the Equality Act 2010.

On the balance of probabilities, the employer breaching the Equality Act 2010 will be far more serious than any allegations, which have been made against you in the workplace investigatory meeting!

Other adjustments include:

To enable you to have breaks as and when you need them during the workplace investigatory meeting.
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To allow you to have a companion. For the avoidance of doubt, the law does not allow you to have a companion at a ‘workplace investigatory meeting’ only at full disciplinary hearing. However, if you suffer from either asthma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, asperges or any other mental impairment, you could ask your employer to allow you to be accompanied to the investigatory meeting by a family member or friend as a reasonable adjustment. In the authority of ‘Crisp v Iceland Frozen Food’ the claimant sued Iceland Frozen Foods for failing to make a reasonable adjustment to the disciplinary procedure by not allowing her to be accompanied in the disciplinary hearing by her mother. The Tribunal agreed that because the claimant suffered from panic attacks, that the employer had failed to make a reasonable adjustment by allowing her mother to be her chosen companion at the disciplinary hearing.
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To ask your employer, its HR Department and management (via email) to observe and implement the recommendations outlined and encompassed within The Statutory Code of Practice on Employment 2011, Chapter 17 at Paragraph 17.93:

“Employers should ensure that when conducting disciplinary and grievance procedures they do not discriminate against a worker because of a protected characteristic. For example, employers may need to make reasonable adjustments to procedures to ensure that they do not put disabled workers at a substantial disadvantage.”
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To insist that whoever undertakes the workplace investigatory meeting receives ‘disability-awareness training’. See Bush v Rolls Royce [1999] ET/1401054/98. An omission to render the person/s undertaking the workplace investigation meeting with ‘disability awareness training’, could constitute a relevant failure of s.20(3); s.21(1)(2) & s.39(5) of The Equality Act 2010.

To allow you to audio record the workplace investigatory meeting. If the employer and/or its HR Department doesn’t allow you to audio record either the workplace investigatory meeting or the disciplinary hearing, then raise a grievance for ‘disability discrimination’. Contact us to help you raise a grievance letter – myrightsuk@protonmail.com
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To ask the employer to observe the implied term of mutual trust and confidence during the workplace investigatory meeting, and not to act in a manner to ‘impinge’ upon the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. This applies whether or not you have a disability. See Kaur v Leeds Teaching Hospital.
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To provide you with the minutes of the workplace investigatory meeting straight after the meeting has been held. You do not want to give your employer any opportunity to amend their notes. Again, this applies whether or not you have a disability. Even if the employer’s notes are in rough form, ask the employer to photocopy them and provide you with a copy of the minutes of the workplace investigatory meeting straight after the workplace investigatory meeting has concluded.

Step 4 – Employee Rights Unfair Workplace Investigation UK – Obtaining Evidence:

Whether or not you have been suspended, you want to obtain all the evidence in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting taking place.

You should email the HR Department and ask for sight of all the evidence in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting. Don’t do this verbally, do it via email.

In order to ensure a fair and equitable investigation, you need to have sight of all the evidence in advance of the workplace investigation meeting taking place. Don’t be ambushed into a workplace investigation meeting without knowing all the allegations against you, including having sight of all of the evidence which supports those allegations.

If your employer has already invited you to a workplace investigatory meeting and you were not aware at the material time that the meeting you attended was a ‘disciplinary investigatory meeting’, then raise a formal grievance for breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence.

With regard to the above, I draw your attention to the specific wording in the following case authorities:

Spink v Express Foods Limited [1990] IRLR 320 –

“It is a fundamental part of a fair disciplinary procedure that an employee know the case against him. Fairnessrequires that someone accused should know the case to be met; should hear or be told the important parts of theevidence in support of that case; should have an opportunity to criticise or dispute that evidence and to adducehis own evidence and argue his case. “

Bentley Engineering Co Ltd v Mistry [1979] ICR 47 –

“Employers disciplinary proceedings require that an employee should have a chance to state his own case [and} to know sufficiently what was being said against him, so that he could put forward his own case properly, and have a chance to state his own case in detail. The employee must know in one way or another sufficiently what is being said against him. If the employee does not know sufficiently what is being said against him, he cannotproperly put forward his own case. This encompasses the employee either being allowed to see witnessstatements against him or be allowed to listen to what witnesses have to say about him. “

The above case authorities refer to the “disciplinary proceedings”. For the avoidance of doubt, this could include ‘workplace investigatory meetings’.

Therefore, do NOT get ambushed into a workplace investigatory meeting without having had sight of all the evidence and allegations, which have been made against you. If you employer refuses to provide you with the information in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting, then as stated above, raise a grievance for ‘breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence’.

Notwithstanding, ask (via email) that all the evidence and allegations against you are furnished to you no less than 5 days in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting taking place. Your employer will not want to do this, and will argue that you knowing the nature of the allegations is enough. However, dig your heels in and insist on having sight of all the evidence and allegations 5 days in advance of the workplace investigatory meeting.

Notwithstanding, if co-workers have made allegations against you and/or have raised grievances against you, then you have a right to see what has been said about you, and furthermore, to cross examine any persons who have made allegations against you, not least if the allegations are vexatious, malicious and/or which sully, traduce and stigmatise your reputation, especially if you are a ‘professional person’.

If your employer and the HR Department don’t allow you access to the allegations, which have been made against you as part of the workplace investigation or disciplinary hearing, then raise a grievance in writing due to the failure by your employer and/or its HR Department / management to observe the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. Contact us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com

It is incumbent upon your employer to undertake a fair and equitable workplace investigatory process. A failure to do so could ultimately lead to you claiming constructive unfair dismissal. For the avoidance of doubt, the employment tribunal has held that ‘any breach’ of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence is repudiatory.

In the event these matters end up in an Employment Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal will be looking for you to have objected, protested and challenged anything which your employer, its management and/or HR Department have done, which you did not agree with. Don’t be a lap dog!

If your employer is not acting in good faith, then you need to outline this complaint in writing.

Step 5 – Employee Rights Workplace Investigation UK – Correspondence:

Personally, I would ensure that all correspondence regarding the workplace investigation is sent via email, and not done verbally.

Make sure you take screen shots of all emails. As stated above, be careful forwarding work emails to your personal email address, as this could very likely lead to further disciplinary action being taken against you. Read your employer’s IT Policy & Disciplinary Policy.

The reason I would suggest taking screen shots of emails is to ensure that at a later date, you can always use these emails as evidence in the employment tribunal insofar that you have objected, protested, and challenged anything which your employer did, or did not do during the workplace investigation.

Employers will often suspend you to stop you having access to work emails. Forewarned is forearmed. If you are subject to a workplace investigation, I would be inclined to gather all your evidence including work emails before the employer suspends you. Do this discreetly!

Step 6 – Employee Rights Workplace Investigation UK – Statements:

You have a right to know who has made statements against you.

If an employee or co-worker has made allegations against you, which allegations have led to you being subjected to a workplace investigation or disciplinary process, then it is incumbent upon you to establish whether those allegations were made either verbally or in writing.

If the complaints against you were made verbally, then you need to email your employer and ask your employer the date, time, and method, i.e., under what auspices the complaints were made against you. You can even make a Subject Access Request if the statements are not forthcoming.

For example, if the individual who made complaints against you has not done so in writing themselves, then how can you be sure that the statements taken by the HR Department (third-hand) are a true and accurate reflection of what the complainant has stated?

Therefore, if a third party such as the HR Department or manager has taken a statement, then I would get the complainant to sign the statement, which HR have produced on behalf of the aggrieved employee, as being a statement of truth as to what was stated.

To this end, if the person who has made allegations against you has embellished the truth and/or has lied about what they saw or said, then they will not very likely want to commit to their statement to being a ‘statement of truth’. You can then use this against them at a later date as a matter of credibility.

Moreover, if it is later determined that an individual’s statement was not ‘substantially true’ then you can always consider issuing a ‘pre-action protocol for defamation’ in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules.

For the avoidance of doubt, in accordance with s.2(1) of The Defamation Act 2013, it is for the complainant who makes the allegations against you, to prove that that the allegations are ‘substantially true’. If they cannot prove the allegations are ‘substantially true’ it could be libellous.

You could also put the person who was made the allegations against you on notice through the HR Department, that if it is subsequently found through the workplace investigation that the statements the complainant made are not ‘substantially true’, then you will reserve your legal position to bring claims for either stigmatisation or defamation, especially if the allegations cause your professional reputation ‘serious harm’ in accordance with s.1 of the Defamation Act 2013.

Whilst you don’t want to appear to be intimidating any persons who have made allegations against you, you are within your rights to warn those individuals through the HR Department, that if the allegations they have made are found to be vexatious or malicious, that you will be left with no choice in the matter but to launch a formal complaint (grievance) against those individuals who have made statements against you, and furthermore, to name them as additional named respondents in any claims you may bring to the employment tribunal.

The above may appear to be a very heavy-handed approach, but anybody threatened with potential litigation is going to think twice before pursuing allegations against you, especially if there is not much evidence to support the allegations, which have been made against you.

As stated above, don’t be a lapdog, be a Rottweiler!

The above may be of particular importance especially where you are being subjected to ‘workplace mobbing’ whereas a group of individuals have made spurious and vexatious allegations against you just to get rid of you because your face doesn’t fit in the Department where you work.

This practice (workplace mobbing) is fairly common, Amy & I see it on a regular basis. Thus, by asking the employer to warn the individuals in writing that if it is found that their allegations are not upheld, that you reserve your legal position to sue them as additional named respondents in the employment tribunal, especially if the allegations significantly influence a disability, which you may have.

For example, I am asthmatic. Stress is one of the triggers for my asthma. Therefore, if a person or a group of people were to make allegations against me, whether or not those allegations had any merit, I would still put those individuals on notice that in the event that their allegations are not upheld, that I would name them as additional named respondents in any claims, which I may bring in the employment tribunal. This would not be a threat, but a fact.

For the avoidance of doubt, individuals who subject you to ‘unfavourable treatment’ or discrimination arising in consequence of a disability, are ‘personally liable’ for that discriminatory conduct in accordance with s.110(1)(a)(b)(c)(2) of The Equality Act 2010.

The employer would be vicariously liable for failing to have taken ‘reasonable steps’ to have prevented the discrimination.

If you choose to go down the aforementioned route, I would suggest you get in contact with Amy & I before doing so, to assist you in wording your grievance letter in such a way, which does not appear as if you are seeking to intimidate the persons who have raised allegations against you. Tread carefully!

Step 7 – Employee Rights Unfair Workplace Investigation UK:

If, after a workplace investigatory meeting has taken place, the HR Department decides to pursue the allegations against you to a full disciplinary hearing, then this is your golden opportunity to ask a series of questions to be put to the individual/s who have made the allegations against you.

If it were me, I would propose a series of questions to each individual whom has made complaints against you. I would send those questions to the HR Department in advance of the disciplinary hearing taking place and ask for the answers to those questions 5 days in advance of the disciplinary hearing.

For the avoidance of doubt, do not ask questions which elicit a yes or no answer. You want to ask questions, which compel the individual to outline their position.

Example Questions:

Specifically, what did John Doe hear or see on the date in question germane to myself?

Does John Doe agree that he could not have seen or heard the allegations, which have subsequently been made against me, not least because John Doe was not in the meeting room at the material time? If John Doe disagrees, how does he say he could have heard and/or have seen the allegations against me, not least by reason that John Doe was not in the meeting room at the material time?

I require to know, has John Doe been asked to provide a statement, or did John Doe provide a statement of his own volition?

If John Doe was asked to provide a statement, I require to know the name of the persons who asked John Doe to provide a statement?

How do you say the individuals who asked John Doe to provide a statement have not sought to ‘materially influence’ the statement given by John Doe?

For the avoidance of doubt, I am asking the HR Department to warn John Doe in writing that in the event his statement is found not to be ‘substantially true’, that I reserve my legal rights to sue John Doe for libel and/or to name him as an additional named respondent in any claims, which I may bring in the Employment Tribunal, in the event the disciplinary procedures leads to my dismissal for alleged gross misconduct.

The above statements should warn any HR officer working within the HR Department that they need to undertake a thorough workplace investigation to establish all of the facts, not least if you have been warned by the HR Department, that you could be dismissed for gross misconduct as part of the disciplinary investigation, hearing and/or outcome.

Step 8 – Employee Rights Unfair Workplace Investigation UK:

The problem is that when an individual is subjected to a workplace investigation, it is quite natural for the individual to feel emotional and aggrieved as any right-minded thinking person would be.

Tensions often run high in workplace investigations. Therefore, by asking your employer to undertake the workplace investigation via written form, it will obviate the need for the procedures to become heated and/or confrontational, which the workplace invetsigation may otherwise become if you were to attend in person.

DON’T ever write anything in anger. If you feel angry, don’t reply until the following day.

Step 9 – Employee Rights Workplace Investigation UK – Think ahead!

Whenever I write an email or letter, I always think that that email or letter could be seen by a judge. Therefore, always be seen to be acting reasonably. That is not to say that you have to actually act reasonably, you just need to be ‘seen’ to be acting reasonably!

Don’t make demands.

Be polite in what you write.

Always sign off with ‘yours sincerely’ rather than ‘kind regards’. Keep the letters formal.

Whatever you write be specific in what you want. For example, I have below outlined a bad example of what to write, and a good example –

Bad Example:

Please can I have access to the allegations which have been made against me?

Good example:

In ensuring a fair and equitable disciplinary process, I require sight of all of the evidence against me, including the names of the persons who have made the allegations, copies of their statements, and the names of any witnesses no less than 5 days in advance of the disciplinary investigatory meeting. To this end, I am asking my employer and the HR Department to not only observe the natural justice, but also to observe the implied term of mutual trust and confidence germane to the disciplinary procedures.

In the bad example above, you are actually asking the HR Department to furnish you with the allegations against you. This is not the route you want to take. You need to be more assertive and specific by saying “I require sight of”. This way, you are not asking or requesting that information, instead you are ‘requiring’ that that information is given to you without unreasonable delay.

I often note when I’m assisting a client going through a workplace investigation, that the HR Departments tone becomes less polite as the disciplinary process drags on. For example, at the beginning of the workplace investigatory process the employer might address you as “dear” and sign off letters and emails with “kind regards”. However, by the time you get done with the HR Department, I doubt there will be any such niceties or formalities.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon you to keep the tone formal throughout the disciplinary procedures.

Step 10 – Employee Rights Workplace Investigation UK – The Workplace Investigatory Meeting:

If the notes of the workplace investigatory meeting were not factually correct, this will give you ammunition to ask the employer to audio record any further workplace meetings.

Put shortly, if the employer has failed to take accurate notes during the investigatory meeting, and you have brought that to your employer’s attention previously by pointing out the obvious omissions within the notes taken, then this will pave the way for you to ask for future workplace meetings to be audio recorded. After all, in observing the natural justice, it is in both parties interest to have true and accurate notes of the investigatory process.

If the employer refuses your audio recording the workplace investigatory meeting, I would write to the employer via email asking the employer to outline the specific grounds and reasons why they object to you making an audio recording.

If you covertly record a workplace meeting, you could be dismissed due to a breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, that is, in the event the employer finds out that you have made the recording.

To this end, I would always read the employers policies and procedures in advance of any workplace investigatory meeting or disciplinary hearing to see if it is mentioned anywhere that you are forbidden from making covert recordings. If the employer is savvy, it will stipulate in the grievance and disciplinary procedures that you are forbidden to make any recordings without the consent of the employer.

Personally, if I were subjected to a disciplinary hearing or workplace investigation, I would always covertly record, not least because in the event you are dismissed, it does not matter that you did not obtain your employer’s consent.

Ultimately, it is for each individual to decide for themselves whether or not to covertly record any workplace meetings.

The benefit of making a covert recording, is that in the event the minutes of the workplace investigatory meeting are factually incorrect, and the matters escalate to the employment tribunal, then you can prove that the employer has acted in bad faith by removing parts of the minutes of the workplace investigatory meeting, or where the covert recording will establish that you did object, protest, and challenge the evidence or any other matters during the course of the workplace meeting.

Personally, I would not trust the HR Department to make accurate notes of what has been stated during the course of a workplace meeting. If you are hoping that the HR Department will take true and accurate notes of a workplace meeting, you do so at your own peril.

Step 11 – Employee Rights Unfair Workplace Investigation UK:

If you have already been subjected to an unfair workplace investigation, unfair disciplinary procedure or unfair disciplinary hearing, and want to raise a formal letter of grievance regarding the unfair workplace investigations, then contact us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com

All emails will be answered the same or next day.

Conclusions:

The key to all of the above, is to make sure that you are on an even footing with the employer, and to ensure that the workplace investigatory process is fair, transparent, and equitable.

When undertaking a workplace investigation, it is incumbent upon the employer and the HR Department to observe the natural justice. This means that you have sight of all the evidence and allegations against you in advance of attending any workplace investigatory meeting or disciplinary hearing.

It also means that you have a reasonable amount of time to adduce, digest, and elicit the evidence to argue your case and to put forth your case in a constructive, articulate way at the workplace investigatory meeting or disciplinary hearing in the event you are so inclined to attend in person.

If you feel that the employer has acted (or is acting and in the egregious manner) then please contact us so we can arrange a telephone consultation to discuss where you’re at, and moreover, the next steps. Contact us – myrightsuk@protonmail.com

You have to remember that I have trodden the path, which you now tread hundreds of times over the last 13 years with numerous clients.

Amy & I can assist you in avoiding the pitfalls and common mistakes which we see employees make when being subjected to an unfair workplace investigation.

You only get one chance to position yourself well during an unfair workplace investigation, so make sure you do just that!

My wife Amy and I have helped thousands of clients address their employment disputes with their employers. Please read our testimonials page.

Amy & I can assist you on any of the following work-related matters:

Go on, pick up the phone and call us to arrange a telephone consultation on 07775943414.

We work 7 days a week (9-5 UK time) because we know that your employment problems don’t just end on a Friday afternoon!

We only charge £35 up to one hour for the initial consultation and £50 an hour thereafter.

Disclaimer:

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The content is not intended to be legal advice, and you should not rely upon it in any respect to any specific situation you may be facing. Therefore, the content of this web site will serve as a good springboard to get professional legal advice from a solicitor.

Moreover, any discussion with Sam or Amy does not amount to ‘legal advice’. Any opinions expressed verbally or in writing are ‘opinions’.

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