How to Properly Investigate Harassment in the Workplace
Many small and medium sized businesses in Saskatchewan do not have Human Resource Departments to manage the interaction of their employees with one another. In fact, as a small or medium size business owner you may find yourself wearing this hat, in addition to the many others that you wear.
The Saskatchewan Employment Act requires all employers to:
• Develop and implement a harassment policy, and
• Investigate all incidents of harassment within their workplace.
Failure to do so can lead to employees lodging complaints to the Ministry of Labour Relations and result in investigations being conducted on not just the harassment, but the failure of the employer to act upon the alleged breach.
If you are running a small to medium sized business, how do you comply with the law as it relates to the issue of workplace harassment without exposing yourself to some conflicts in your role? Does every small to medium sized business have the resources or expertise to conduct an independent investigation, or at least one that is seen to be independent? The answer is most likely, no.
As a business owner you may have a responsibility to create and enforce your harassment policy, but will your conduct pass the impartiality test after all is said and done. You may want to consider hiring outside help for this crucial step in the process. By having the investigation conducted by professionals from outside of your business there will be very little opportunity for criticism when it comes to impartiality.
An outside investigator is not concerned with the power dynamic in the organization or any of the relationship issues that exist within the work environment, they are only interested in arriving at the truth. This can be obtained through a full and frank investigation. The unvarnished truth about what occurred can then be put in front of the business owner for an informed decision about whether or not harassment actually occurred, and if it did, to what extent and what the next steps are in executing the workplace policy are.
An independent investigation can give employees an opportunity to relate what really happened without the pressure of offending someone within the workplace while doing so. Any workplace is filled with relationships and dynamics that govern how people act within the workplace, to remove these potential biases from the equation, the employer can hire an independent investigator to enhance the credibility of the conclusions that are reached without exposing themselves to criticism for a biased approach, or the scrutiny of an external review by authorities.
To insulate you and your business from the unwanted diversion of poorly handled harassment complaints, consider hiring a private investigator to conduct the investigation and provide you with an unbiased report of what actually occurred so that you can move your operations forward. You will find that this type of investigation can be conducted at a reasonable cost and save you much in the way of frustration later, and ultimately get your business back on track. It will also provide you with a thorough report that can be used to justify any decisions that you make should the need arise later in any legal scrutiny.
Contact us for a free consultation on what we can do to help you and your workplace harassment situation so you can quickly get back to the business of managing your business.