How to Create (and Implement) an Internal Investigations Policy

Internal investigations may sound serious — and they are! — but they’re also integral to maintaining a healthy workplace and strong employee relations. Developing an internal investigations policy shows that you take employee complaints seriously, and that you have a process in place to address employee misconduct and other issues.

But conducting a thorough investigation isn’t easy. You’ll need to establish the scope of the investigation, avoid conflicts of interest, and deliver an investigation report. Here’s how to create an internal investigations policy that will allow you to conduct in-house investigations and take disciplinary action or corrective action in good faith.

What Is an Internal Investigations Policy?

An internal investigations policy lays out how your organization will address workplace safety incidents, allegations of misconduct, and other employee relations or regulatory issues. It outlines who will conduct the investigation, how employees are expected to cooperate, and how you’ll respond to policy violations or non-compliance.

The goal of an internal investigations policy is to establish a fair and impartial method for addressing issues so you can get to the root cause of the problem.

Types of Internal Investigations

Internal investigations can take place for a wide range of reasons, from whistleblower complaints to workplace safety incidents. Here are just a few examples.

Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation investigations arise when an employer or insurance company suspects that an employee’s workers’ compensation claim is erroneous or fraudulent. For example, if an employee claims that they’re unable to return to work due to an injury, but posts pictures of themselves running a marathon or scuba diving on social media, you might decide to investigate their claim. 

Accusing an employee of workers’ comp fraud isn’t something to be taken lightly, so having an internal investigations policy helps you navigate it in good faith.

Property Damage

If your company experiences property damage due to misconduct or negligence, you may need to file a business insurance claim. While your insurance company will likely conduct their own investigation, an internal investigation allows you to document the incident and ensure that your claim is approved promptly.

This type of investigation may involve conducting witness interviews and collecting photographic or video evidence of the incident.

Workplace Incidents

Other workplace incidents involve cases of employee misconduct or abuse. Employees may report concerns about workplace safety or make allegations of fraud, harassment, or discrimination. Your human resources team should be prepared to investigate every complaint, while respecting employees’ privacy and confidentiality.

Using incident management software like Pulpstream helps you respond to workplace incidents, and even accept anonymous reports and whistleblower complaints.

Benefits of an Internal Investigations Policy

An internal investigations policy isn’t just about doing your due diligence when an issue comes up. It’s also about maintaining a safe work environment and preventing future incidents. Here’s why having an internal investigations policy is so important.

Consistent Documentation

Whether you’re filing an insurance claim or responding to a legal complaint, document preservation practices can help you back up your case in a negotiation or in a court of law. HR case documentation best practices include storing your investigation records securely and maintaining a chain of custody to avoid loss or tampering.

Improved Compliance

An internal investigations policy helps you ensure compliance with any applicable laws. For example, if an employee sues for termination of employment, you can point to your disciplinary action policy as evidence that you followed appropriate procedures.

Neutrality and Transparency

Fair and transparent investigations can improve employee retention by providing a safe and professional environment in which to work. Employees can feel confident that their concerns will be taken seriously by your legal department and the investigation team.

What to Include in an Internal Investigations Policy

Knowing how to conduct internal investigations is important, but what exactly does an internal investigations policy include? While you may want to get legal advice before making it official, here’s some of the most relevant information to consider.

Employee Cooperation

An internal investigation is only effective if your employees cooperate in good faith. Your internal investigations policy may include a cooperation clause — but keep in mind that employees may be entitled to legal counsel if they’re the subject of an allegation.

Conflicts of Interest

Consider hiring an Ethics and Compliance Officer to oversee investigations and address conflicts of interest. For example, if managers are involved in a complaint, an in-house investigation may not be appropriate; you may need an external investigation team.

Disciplinary Action

Some internal investigations may result in disciplinary action against an employee. Use disciplinary action form templates to standardize the process and avoid the impression of favoritism or bias. Implement a remediation process if appropriate.

Confidentiality

A workplace investigation may involve multiple interviews and witness statements, but that doesn't mean it’s everyone’s business. Keep the subject matter of an investigation private, and protect the confidentiality of participants as much as possible.

How to Implement an Internal Investigations Policy

The internal investigation process begins when an employee makes a complaint or in the aftermath of a workplace incident. Here’s how to conduct an internal investigation while adhering to your legal obligations and company policies.

Establish the Scope of the Investigation

First, determine how broad the investigation will be and how many employees need to be interviewed. Consider how far back in time the allegations go and whether or not you have emails, photos, or surveillance footage that’s relevant to the investigation.

If the internal investigation is related to a court case, there may be additional factors to consider, such as subpoenas, sanctions, and attorney-client privilege.

Adhere to the Investigation Process

Next, follow the investigation process as laid out in your company policies. Use a platform like Pulpstream to guide the incident investigation process and store your evidence, witness statements, and other supporting documents all in one place.

Record the chain of custody of your evidence to avoid disputes over its legitimacy or applicability to the case. Pulpstream’s cloud-based tools make it easy to manage the process digitally and upload relevant documents from almost any device.

Deliver an Investigation Report

Finally, deliver a report that describes the outcome of the investigation and outlines your decision-making along the way. Were you able to get to the root cause of the workplace incident, or are there still lingering questions over what actually happened?

Pulpstream’s audit and inspection tools allow you to assign and track corrective action plans so you can prevent the same issue from happening again.

Manage Internal Investigations With Pulpstream

Internal investigations are those conducted by an in-house team, rather than an external investigation team. You can conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of a workplace incident, substantiate a business insurance claim, or respond to allegations of employee misconduct. An internal investigations policy sets some guidelines for investigations to minimize conflicts of interest and avoid concerns of discrimination or bias.

The key components of an internal investigation include determining the scope of the investigation, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and issuing a report. When you use incident management automation tools like Pulpstream, you can digitize and standardize the process to avoid issues and maintain thorough documentation.

Pulpstream’s cloud-based platform can handle workplace investigations, disciplinary action, corrective action, and more. Our built-in communication tools and automatic notifications mean you can keep employees informed every step of the way. Get a demo today and learn how to improve internal investigations with Pulpstream.