Professional Workplace Investigations to Ensure Respectful Workplaces:
In most organizations today, ensuring the health and safety of employees and fostering a culture that is respectful, is top of mind – it’s critical if you want to attract and retain top talent and it’s a legal requirement from an OH&S perspective. If not handled carefully, a potential workplace incident or complaint could cause irreparable damage to an organization’s brand, reputation and/or result in legal matters. At Salopek & Associates we understand the importance of cultivating a positive workplace environment for your team and are proud that organizations Canada-wide have trusted us with one of their most sensitive and important matters. We have Senior Specialists who are trained in Workplace Investigations to help navigate your organization through the process and advise you on how to reduce the risk of any potential liabilities in the future.
When to Conduct a Workplace Investigation:
How do you know if your workplace is free from harassment and bullying? What do you do if you suspect inappropriate behavior? How do you be proactive and address behaviors before there is an issue? These are questions that Salopek addresses regularly with our clients – unfortunately it’s more common than you think. A conversation with a Senior Specialist on the Salopek Team who is trained in identifying and investigating situations that can escalate and contribute to unhealthy workplaces is the first step to ensuring as an employer you are doing all you can to ensure the health and safety of your employees.
How Salopek & Associates Can Support with Workplace Investigations
- Determining whether you have inappropriate behaviour that requires investigation or just a conflict that requires mediation
- Assist with assessments that determine whether your workplace is safe and healthy
- Manage all the proper protocol, communication, and process in the event that an Investigation is required
- Conduct the investigation in a timely and efficient manner
- Make recommendations that will allow your organization to move forward following the Investigation
- Provide a full Investigation Report
- Provide Coaching on the debrief following the Investigation with the Board, the Complainant, the Respondent and other Stakeholders (when required)
Benefits of an Impartial HR Consultant in Workplace Investigations
An impartial HR consultant ensures fairness and objectivity in workplace investigations, minimizing bias and fostering trust. Their expertise helps uncover facts, maintain compliance, and promote a respectful workplace culture, ensuring sensitive issues are handled professionally and effectively.
Our Investigator is a Senior Specialist licensed under the Alberta Security Services and Investigators Act and is supported by other Senior Consultants on our team who understand Investigations and proper processes to ensure healthy workplaces. Together they provide advice and a course of action that is relative to the situation and are focused on effectively and efficiently addressing the issue so your team can move forward uninhibited!
Confidential Employee Hotline: Promoting Safe and Respectful Workplaces – Be Proactive
The best way to protect your team, brand, and organization from a possible workplace incident or investigation is to be proactive. Ensuring you have internal preventative and proactive systems in place for your team will help reduce the potential risk for liability and provide a safe and respectful work environment for your employees. Salopek & Associates “Confidential Employee Hotline” is the first of its kind and is part of an overall Safe and Respectful Workplace Strategy.
Employees many access the Hotline if they have experienced or witnessed unsafe or inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, and are unable to report the incident internally due to unsuitable or ineffective channels. The Hotline is one component of a total Safe and Respectful Workplace Strategy that Salopek’s Clients embrace in order to ensure a culture that is free from unsafe work practices and inappropriate behavior, which includes harassment, bullying, discrimination and violence. The Hotline re-enforces and illustrates to Employees that they are valued and respected by the Client and have recourse.
The Hotline is administered by Salopek and provides Employees an opportunity to either call a Hotline number or send a confidential email to Salopek. A Senior Consultant on the Salopek Team will respond back to the Employee within 24 hours and book a confidential phone conversation with the Employee to gather pertinent details and information regarding the complaint; as well as provide an explanation of the process. All contact with the Employee will be held in confidence, except in the event that an investigation is required and/or criminal activity is involved.
When might your employees call the ‘Employee Hotline’?
Employees who need to confidentially report the following:
- Breaches in Human Rights legislation
- Breaches in Occupational Health and Safety legislation
- Breaches in Company policy and procedures
- Breaches in Company principles
- Claims related to harassment, bullying, discrimination and violence
- Criminal offenses
- Organization’s failure to comply with obligation imposed by Company policy or the Law
Think of our Confidential Employee Hotline program as an insurance policy for your team to help reduce the potential risk and liabilities that could arise from unforeseeable workplace incidents.