Investigations Into Harassment Claims Are Critical

Employees who believe they’ve been subjected to harassment of any sort at work may opt to file a complaint about the behavior. Employers must ensure that the workers know the appropriate channels for filing these. 

Once the report is made, an investigation must be initiated. The way that this is handled may have a major impact on how the victim views the matter. All investigations must be thorough, even if it’s found that no harassment occurred. 

Choose the investigator carefully

It’s a good idea to have an idea of who will investigate claims of harassment within a company. Ideally, you should have a team of people who are trained and ready to handle these cases. There should be men and women in the group so that all claims can be reported and investigated. This enables the victims to determine who they feel comfortable making a report. In some cases, victims might be more comfortable with a person who’s the same gender as them.

Set the Standards for Investigation

Investigations should be standardized. This ensures that they all receive the same attention. The focus must be on determining what’s factual. There’s no room for investigators to give favoritism or benefit of the doubt to workers that they may know. 

If you have an incident involving harassment within your company, you must handle it appropriately. Disgruntled employees who have reason to believe you didn’t handle things properly may opt to pursue legal action against the company. Trying to avoid this is likely a priority. Once it happens, you may realize that you need to get a defense together. Working with someone familiar with handling these cases is imperative.