Anyone know about HR investigations?

[SirHisss]

I've been notified that a colleague has made a complaint about me and that HR are conducting an investigation. I don't want to go in to too much detail but I'm aware of the incident they will have referred to in their complaint however I don't know what their actual complaint is.

The letter I received says that I will be asked to meet with HR in the near future and that if I want to I can submit a written statement in advance.

Can anyone shed any light on why I should submit a statement as opposed to just telling them my side of the story during the meeting? What do I include in it? They will meet with my colleague first, will she get to read my statement if I submit one?

I have asked my union rep for advice but sometimes it takes her days to respond, if at all and there is a deadline which I have to send the statement by.

I'd be grateful if anyone can shed any light, I do nothing but go over it all in my head and I don't know what's for the best.

Your work should have a disciplinary investigation policy or guideline that you can read which might help you in terms of knowing what to expect procedurally.

I conduct these investigations and also chair hearings for conduct issues at work. IME people sometimes submit a statement when they want to admit misconduct but not get drawn into a lengthy conversation about it, or when they want to disclose something very personal that is contributing to the situation, I had one recently where the person who the complaint was about turned out to be in an abusive relationship with the person who lodged the complaint, there were ongoing police proceedings. She wrote a statement because every time she tried to talk about it she just fell apart. Other people like to prepare notes or a statement and bring it with them to keep their thoughts in order as it can be a nerve wracking process.

You can ask for an extension on the basis you've not had a response from your union rep and want Union advice before responding.

Thanks @MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira

I can see why having a written account of things would help if I'm going to be nervous and anxious during the meeting, but not sure why I would need to send that in advance rather than just take it to the meeting with me. Will they look at it/ consider it before they speak to me?

I have a purely factual written account of what happened which I could send, not sure whether to expand that and include things like how I was affected at the time and how I've been made to feel since?

It's good to know that I can request an extension - I don't want this to drag out longer than it has to but I don't want to proceed without proper advice

@JasonTindallsTan Thanks yes, they do and I can see the basics of the process but nothing about submitting written statements in advance of meetings.

Bumping just to see if anyone else has some knowledge or experience they can share.

Submitting in advance gives an opportunity for the reviewer to consider what you give them.

If you think you’re partially in the wrong then it would be well worth considering requesting a delay on the deadline in order to get union advice.

I haven't done anything wrong at all. I know that sounds like I'm probably biased and without going in to detail that would out me, I can't explain why. In hindsight I should have complained in the first instance but I just hoped if I stayed quiet things would blow over. Unfortunately it kicked off and here we are.

I suspect she has lied in her complaint which is why I'm apprehensive about providing any information in advance - in case she is allowed to see it and uses it to make her account of things appear more believable.

@SirHisss
You say that you ‘don’t know what their actual complaint is’

in that case don’t assume as you may wrongly think it is x incident but it is really something else entirely

as a pp said - check the policy very clearly.
explain to the relevant manager you are waiting for union advice.
don’t go into any meeting or respond to any complaint without union advice.

(I’m not HR but former NHS manager - been on both sides of complaints. I had a grievance against me - not upheld as it was fake, but I was extremely well prepared before every meeting)

once you know what the actual incident is, I’d also advise gathering any relevant information such as emails. Make some notes for example if there were witnesses. I had a huge number of emails from the complainant that totally contradicted their subsequent lies.

@SirHisss
i know how upsetting it is when someone tells lies about you. It’s awful. I also put my head in the sand a bit at first hoping it would go away.
ime most stirrers and liars at work are very unhappy and disloyal people. But they can do a lot of damage.
just tell the truth, stay as calm as you can.

She won't be allowed to see it. Only HR will see it. You can explicitly say you don't want her to see it if you're worried. Just give factual information about the incident to which you believe it relates. And write notes for yourself to bring with you as well. If you feel the other person has bullied or wronged you then put that in the statement. But use factual info to back it up.

Unless you know what the complaint is you can't write a statement for it.
Take the union rep in with you, possibly the regional caseworker if you can get one.
Find and check the relevant work policies.

Record the meeting so that you can check this against the minutes when they are produced.
You can write notes as pointers before you go in.
Tell the truth and don't try and fill in any spaces in the discussion.

Thanks all.

I am a nervous wreck because of this - fairly new to the team as well and haven't made friends yet so I don't have anyone for moral support. Colleague is an established member of the team.

The letter I was given does tell me that they are investigating an incident which occured on X date so I know what is being referred to, but it's so vague I'm still in the dark about what colleague has said I've said/done and I know that I didn't do or say anything wrong.

I'll need to chase the union rep again on Monday, she sometimes only responds after I've sent two or three e-mails which doesn't fill me with hope.

I wrote a factual account at the time, but wasn't sure if I should include other information e.g. things that happened in the weeks leading up to that day that are probably relevant, and how I've been made to feel as a direct result of all of this kicking off - which I actively tried to avoid.

Unfortunately there is no paper or digital trail of communication, everything has been verbal and there were no witnesses at the time.

You can ask for the regional union rep to represent you if you want someone truly independent, the office rep may be a friend of the complainant for all you know.

You pay your union fees for exactly this kind of stuff.

If your local rep is being rubbish get in touch with the main office.

dont assume the other member is Bette rod thought of because they have been there longer!
Generally I’ve found longer members of staff assume they have the upper hand - they don’t.

I had one complaint against me but had witnesses - I never had an apology.

I believe if the investigation turns in to a disciplinary hearing then all evidence needs to be clearly provided. Especially if OP says she lied so it can potentially turn the other way.

I guess they just want a statement in advance to aid the investigators questioning. If she knows your side of events before hand, she can prepare questions so might be a little quicker.

I have been a witness to a grievance, that my boss made about her boss. The whole thing took months to complete. I was interviewed for less than an hour, I had a lot more I could have provided but they had questions they’d prepared in advance based on my boss’s statement, so specific questions such as ‘did you attend a meeting on x date’? I told them they had to give me a bit more as I wasn’t sure what they were alluding to given I attend several meetings every day, and many with my boss and her boss. Anyway, I got across the main things I wanted, ie I strongly felt that my boss had been treated appallingly by her boss.

Thankfully her grievance was upheld, but sadly she moved on anyway, as who wants to work for a boss that bullies you. My boss’s boss seen everything I said about her, which wasn’t great, but I told my boss i’d back her if she complained and kept my word. Thankfully boss’s boss has been nothing but nice to me and gave me a hug when she saw me for the first time afterwards, and we continue to have a professional relationship.

If it’s a formal grievance she will be able to see all statements, as will OP. It can put witnesses off, as i’ve just commented above, my boss’s boss seen everything I said about her (that I witnessed she was a bully and behaved inappropriately). Other people who witnessed less, sat on the fence as they didn’t want to risk their own careers, but she is just one person and this is civil service, so one person cannot block all future promotions etc. But I guess they didn’t want the hassle as they knew she would see their statements. I felt very strongly that boss had been treated appallingly and morally, had no choice but to speak out.

If it’s a formal grievance she will be able to see all statements, as will OP

I don't really care that she will see it eventually but I don't want her to see it before she has her meeting / gives her statement.

I've been told they will meet with her first, then me so I don't think it would be fair for her to go in and have this advantage when she is choosing what to say.

I've already had to go above the union rep's head when she hadn't responded to me iinitially. I'm not sure if I can request someone else or how to do this?

She isn't specific to our office but is the rep for our branch of the organisation. I wouldn't know if she has any personal relationship with my colleague. It is likely that my colleague will also have been in touch with her though so there could be conflict of interest?

I wouldn't write a statement at this stage as you've not been told the allegation. When you are asked questions answer the question if you can but if you need time to think before answering say so.

I am going through this at the moment. Out of the blue I received notification that a complaint had been made against me and my manager. They sent us the complaint and it was lots of incidents over a period of 6 months. Both of us did little work for 2 months but write a repost to everything that was alleged.

Luckily I don't delete emails so I had lots of evidence to send with it showing what had happened on each date.

We weren't allowed to discuss it either with each-other or with anyone else but my boss's boss was called as a witness so we were allowed to talk to him. In the meantime the person making the complaint sat in the middle of the office loudly discussing how awful we both are!

I had an interview which lasted about 90 minutes. It wasn't too bad as they just asked for more details/ clarity on particular incidents. Waiting for the report from that which will be sent to a decision maker.

So far it's been hanging over us for 3 months. it has been hell, especially for my boss who had to stop coming into office completely. In our case everything in the complaint is a lie and they have zero evidence, so it should have been cut and dried but apparently they have to follow process, even though one of the complaints is direct disability discrimination against me. Luckily we both have support from the whole senior management team but I am still nervous it will go against us somehow.

I'm so sorry you are going through similar @WeaselsRising

I haven't even worked with this person much - we were hot desking in the same office once a week or so. We don't work directly on the same projects and all this has arisen from non-work related conversations that happened in work which means there is no paper trail and no witnesses - we were on our own in the office on the day things kicked off.

She has been off work since a few days after the incident (now several weeks ago). I have carried on but found it incredibly overwhelming and difficult- especially with nobody to talk to for moral support. Even if I had someone to talk to I've been explicitly told not to discuss it with anyone in work.

We share a manager so although they have been sympathetic, they can't get involved.

Ultimately it's her word against mine and for a complaint to be upheld I'm sure she must be lying. I can't think of anything I did or said on that day that would justify a complaint.

I’ve been in a job for just over 2 years. I’ve never had to meet with HR in my 30 years about grievances or employee relations tickets and then in this one I’ve had to meet with them 3-4 times and I’ve got another ‘fact finding’ meeting next week. I have nothing to hide yet our HR is investigating my staff member and has the gall of prejudging the situation without knowing the facts. Just be factual and non defensive. This way if you’ve nothing to hide it won’t come to much. Equally listen as the workplace is very diverse and staff can take offence at something through something you may think was not a big deal. Good luck

I've worked in lots of different jobs over the years and never had anything like this happen before.

I know what you're saying about diversity and maybe having unintentionally caused offence but I'm very self aware and it wasn't the sort of conversation where opinions were shared or any jokes made that may have been in bad taste.

If I had spoken out of turn or became as aggressive as she was towards me I would be holding my hands up and apologising for my part in things turning sour.

She berated me so much that I became upset and had to leave the room, I did nothing more than ask her to stop, politely but firmly.

I'm going through similar, been told there is an investigation, but not been told details of the allegation. I'm not making any statement until I know what the allegations are. I know part of it is about something which happened about 7 months ago, for which I have apologised. I've only spoken to the person maybe 3 times in the last 2 years, so am intrigued as to what this is all about. But it's shit. It's having such a negative impact on my mental health and I just want it to be over.