1. Understand the critical laws that impact investigations so you can avoid making costly mistakes
2. Avoid common misunderstandings when you get clear, concise guidelines for conducting investigations step by step
3. Make solid recommendations to management when you get key tips on reporting your findings
4. Reduce your organization’s liability during the interview process of investigations
5. Save time when you learn the top 13 situations you MUST investigate
6. Protect yourself from personal liability when you learn exactly what you can and can’t say in a witness interview
7. Find out what documents you must keep and for how long, to save time and space
8. Eliminate the threat of retaliation and damaging lawsuits
9. Avoid common trip-ups when you learn what barriers you need to clear before you get started
10. Eliminate wasted time when you learn what questions to ask witnesses – so you get the real facts the first time

Internal Investigations in a Diverse Legal Landscape: Your Rights and Obligations

• Defining an internal investigation: your obligations according to the Supreme Court
• Understanding what triggers an investigation and what doesn’t
• Ensuring your investigation will stand up in court
• How to eliminate bias in your investigation
• Avoiding common legal mistakes such as:
  • Invasion of privacy
  • Defamation
  • False imprisonment
  • Intentional infliction of emotional distress/outrage
• Foolproof strategies for protecting yourself from individual liability
• Preplanning for sexual harassment and discrimination complaints

Setting the Stage for a Successful Investigation

• Clearing barriers to performing an investigation
• Policies you should consider before starting
  • Privacy in the workplace
  • E-mail/blogging policy
  • Dress codes
  • Equal employment opportunity policy
  • Sexual harassment
• Choosing your investigator: your attorney, a third party, an agency, or the law? Find out here!
• Identifying the information you’ll need to conduct a legally sound investigation
• Who should be interviewed
• What documents should be looked at
• What records you should create and keep
• Know what to do with physical and documentary evidence and who should have access to it
• Find out when you should use surveillance methods and how to avoid breaching employee privacy

Conducting Internal Investigations: Your Plan in Action

• Preparing for and conducting interviews
• Contacting witnesses
• Scheduling the interview with witnesses, the victim, and the accused
  • Where you should and shouldn’t conduct interviews
• The interviewing process: key considerations
  • What to ask
  • What not to say
  • Recording interviews: dos and don’ts
• Protecting confidentiality
• Attorney participation – what you should know ahead of time
• Handling refusals to be interviewed
• Methods for recording witness statements
• Post-interview wrap-up
• Photographs, diagrams, maps, and sketches
• Collection of documents, records, and other items

Documentation: Before the Investigation and During

• Documentation before, during, and after the investigation
  • Coaching/counseling
  • Training/retraining
  • Verbal warning
  • Written warning
  • Suspension
  • Termination
• Group exercise: Write a warning letter from a stated set of facts
• What documents you must keep and what documents you should keep
• How long you should keep your documents

Post-Investigation: Reporting Your Findings and Making Recommendations

• Find out what the courts and juries look for in reporting
• Evaluating your options: Know exactly what you should and shouldn’t include in your report
• Stick to the facts: How to avoid making defamatory statements in your report
• Determining what disciplinary action you should take
• How to wrap up your investigation when your findings are inconclusive
• Tips for delivering your findings to management to achieve understanding and buy-in
• Legal tips on discussing the investigation with co-workers
• Dealing with rumors, questions, and employee reactions to investigations

Damage Control: Preventing Employee Retaliation and Misconduct

• How managers should respond to inappropriate behavior with or without a filed complaint
• Behavior issues you should address immediately before things get out of hand
• When to follow up with a complaint
• Minimize the likelihood of retaliation with these communication tips

"Very educational, practical, and useful."
– B. Smith
VP of Administration and HR

"“[The trainer] is awesome ... makes the class interesting."
– J. Matting
HR Assistant

"The trainer was excellent and the course material educational ..."
– J. Holdebrandt
HR Administrator

"Excellent course – very informative and interesting."
– T. Hegarty
Assistant General Manager – Administration

"Very informative and full of useful information that I will be able to bring back to my company."
– B. Mikas
HR Assistant

"The trainer was fast-paced, energetic and made the topic interesting."
– G. Susan
HR Generalist