does an employee have a right to know if they are under some sort of internal investigation?

Question

Basically, our property was broken in to or more like broken out of. £200 in petty cash was taken but there was no sign of forced entry. the police are saying it is an inside job and the three keyholders(myself included) feel terrible and under scrutiny. i believe a service user sneaked in and let themselves out of the fire exit but our manager is telling us nothing. Oh, also they are saying if the money is returned they will drop it. that sounds like bullying to me but i'm just a mere minion. we all feel frustrated and want to know if our integrity is been questioned.

Answer 1

If you are in the UK - an employee must be told that he/she is under investigation for whatever complaint/suspicion management have received or think.

If a group of individuals are collectively under investigation then the same applies. However, if management are just running a general investigation in to how a suspect could have obtained the money and no one individual or group of employees are under suspicion, then the employer does have the right to carry out such an investigation without necessarily telling the staff.

This latter point however, does not make for good industrial relations. Perhaps you could all get together and ask management to meet with you and bring you all up to date on what they are planning to do to make your workplace more secure. After all, your own personal affects could have gone missing too.

Answer 2

It depends on what sort of investigation. If the employer is investigating alleged misconduct, then in the UK if they are contemplating a disciplinary sanction such as dismissal, a warning, demotion etc (but not suspension as long as it is with pay) then they must follow the statutory procedure:

1 Send you a letter about your alleged misconduct
2 Invite you to a meeting to discuss it
3 Offer you the right of appeal to any punishment you receive.

Disciplinary sanctions should only be given following a reasonable investigation, which can be done either before or after the meeting. You should have enough time between the letter and the meeting to prepare for the meeting itself.

Answer 3

Yes, but maybe not right at the beginning of the investigation. But definitely before hte investigation is concluded the employee should know what is going on. You can not have a fair investigation unless the person being accussed is allowed to provide their side of the story and present the facts as they see it.

Again, based on the circumstances of the investigation, the employee may not be notified immediately (for fear of deleting email, intimidating co-workers, destroying other information, etc), but they should absolutely be pulled in as the information gathering piece of the investigation is coming to an end.

Answer 4

Yes I think so. Kmart had a policy to do regular internal investigations on their employee's it was in final print on the job application. I suspect Walmart probably does
the same policy! I never worked for Walmart
but did work for Kmart, Sears, Loblaws, Chapples, Royal Edward Hotel, Smiths Sales & Service.. they all had an investigation policy mentioned in fine print on application. Always read the fine print!

Answer 5

Hmm. Well, that's quite tricky. I think what the employee is entitled to would be all the 'details' pertaining to the investigation, you know? Like how it is that they reached the conclusion they did, and what not. I'm not sure if they're required to inform you that you're being investigated... Sometimes it compromises the investigation.

Answer 6

I would say so, but that would depend on what was being investigated and what role that the employee has within the organization. Say if they were dealing with payroll you would not want them to know so that they could possibily mess up the whole thing. :)

Answer 7

Yes you have the right to know what you are under investigation for so that you can refute the implications or prepare a defence if they happen to be true.

Answer 8

Usually no - the employee may "leak" information that infuences the investigation. Imagine a Due Dilligence - if you know what's going on you can infuence all sorts of the company's normal activites and the share price.

Answer 9

The employer does not have to tell you if you're being investigated. If they find something on you, then you'll get fired and they'll tell you the reason for termination.

Answer 10

Not necessarily. If you think they're doing so on the hush-hush there probably isn't any record of it anyway.
If you're in fear of disciplinary action (UK) you can only be sacked immediately for gross misconduct.
To get rid of you for anything else, you have to have at least a verbal warning, then a written warning, then third-strike, you're gone.