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Handling Complaints

Handling internal complaints

The principles you should follow if an employee comes to you with a harassment complaint are to first, select each statement that you believe describes a correct principle, and then, after you've finished, select any remaining statements to learn more about them and to make sure you identified all the correct principles.

Things to consider when hearing complaints:

• listen to the complaint with an open mind
• be respectful to the complainant
• explain the limited confidentiality of the investigation process
• require the complainant to provide witnesses who can corroborate the accusation before you go further, and
• follow your company's policy

If an employee approaches you with a harassment complaint, it's important to remember not to blame the complainant for the situation. Sometimes, statements advising victims to change the way they do things to avoid a similar situation in the future could be misconstrued as "blaming," even if not intended that way. Therefore, you should avoid statements of this nature.

It's also critical that you don't engage in any retaliation against the employee for coming to you with the complaint. Remember, retaliation discourages employees from reporting harassment, which means the company won't have the opportunity to address the problem. And retaliation is illegal.

The investigation process

In the interests of confidentiality, the investigator will contact only those directly involved in the matter.

There are several important steps in the investigation process to consider:

• interviewing – In order to ascertain the facts, the investigator will interview the individuals involved and other employees who may have witnessed the incident or behavior. The complainant will be asked about when, where, and how often the alleged harassment took place. The accused will be informed about the allegations and allowed to respond. Witnesses may be asked what they know about the alleged incident or behavior and what their relation is to the complainant and the accused.
• drawing conclusions – Once the information is gathered from the interviews, the investigators will review the evidence to determine what occurred.
• communicating the decision – Once a decision is reached, the investigator should meet individually with the complainant and the accused. If it's determined that harassment did occur, the harasser should be informed of any disciplinary action that will be taken.

If an employee approaches you with a complaint, you should listen respectfully, document the conversation, and communicate the complaint to HR according to your company's policy. Always avoid any form of retaliation against the individual for complaining.