What role should HR play in a disciplinary investigation?

Posted in : First Tuesday Q&A NI on 7 February 2017
Chris Fullerton
Arthur Cox
Issues covered:

HR personnel will frequently be called upon to provide support and guidance to decision makers during disciplinary investigations. Whilst this is certainly an important function, persons working in HR should be mindful of the limitations of their role and their influence during such investigations. 

The case law on this issue has established that the advice of HR should, in essence, be limited to matters of law and procedure. In particular, such advice should not stray into the area of culpability, which is properly reserved for the investigating officer.

HR should be particularly mindful that he investigator’s report must be the product of his/her own investigation. In the case of

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Back to Q&A's This article is correct at 07/02/2017
Disclaimer:

The information in this article is provided as part of Legal-Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article.

Chris Fullerton
Arthur Cox

The main content of this article was provided by Chris Fullerton. Contact telephone number is 028 9023 0007 or email Chris.Fullerton@arthurcox.com

View all articles by Chris Fullerton