Agenda

This comprehensive seminar and workshop on Advanced Internal Investigations has been designed to provide you with training on how to best conduct an Internal Investigation.

Delivered over two days, this advanced course on employee relations and other workplace investigations issues goes beyond the basic what, why, and how of conducting an internal investigation and focuses - through lecture, dynamic classroom discussion, and Interactive Exercises - on complex legal situations involving Title VII, ADA, anti-discrimination, and other regulatory areas.

You also will learn best practices for investigating FMLA abuse, work-related injuries, workers’ compensation fraud, conflict of interest, and how to work with external resources such as private investigators and law enforcement agencies.

You receive:

• Information-packed training covering everything you need to perform an Internal Investigation, plus
• Interactive sessions throughout the course to test your new knowledge, plus
• Mock investigations where you can apply all of what you’ve learned

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SEMINAR AGENDA

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DAY ONE

Module 1: Current Issues Affecting Internal Investigations

• Examine the current environment
• Increase in remote investigators and virtual internal investigations
• Examine emerging employee relations and ethics issues
• Review trends in how organizations are transforming internal investigative processes

Module 2: Evaluating Common Mistakes In Internal Investigations

• Review court cases that were painful lessons for employers
  
• Identify key strategies for how to avoid making the same mistakes

Module 3: Creating Standards And Consistency In The Investigative Process

• Implement standard protocols and preparation steps
• Preparing for interviews: developing interview question templates
• Documenting complaint intake
• Documenting conversations and witness statements
• Maintaining an evidence log and chain of custody
• Documenting investigator case notes
• Reviewing best practices for case management and evidence storage

Module 4: Regulatory Areas That Affect Internal Investigations

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  
  
  • Review employer obligations in responding to EEOC charges
  • Examine the complexity of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and ADA
  • Evaluate the importance of conducting proper investigations to mitigate risk
  • Review the EEOC charge process

• National Labor Relations Act
  
  
  • Review the latest issues involving the NLRB
  • Social Media, Section 7, and "Concerted Activities"
  • Investigations and confidentiality
  • Recording in the workplace
  • Weingarten rights: Conducting interviews with represented employees

Interactive Exercise:
We Just Received an EEOC Charge for Racial Discrimination. Now What?

Module 5: Federal Employment Laws And Risk Mitigation Strategies To Minimize Claims Of Retaliation

• Review the National Labor Relations Act and compliance mistakes - even for non-union employers
• Employer obligations regarding when and how to conduct investigations
• Harassment: Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment
• Review of other laws that can come into play when conducting internal investigations
• Identifying when interim remedial action steps are necessary
• Review of current retaliation cases - and staggering employer costs for punitive damages
• Minimizing retaliation claims before, during, and after an investigation

Module 6: Launching An Investigation: Crucial Steps To Working A Good Case

• Review of “Investigation Don'ts”
  
• Assessing the case at complaint intake
• Establishing roles and responsibilities to minimize political interference
  
• Identifying Resources: Internal vs. External?
  
• Determining when to get legal counsel involved
  
• Determine when to get law enforcement involved
  
• Review what to expect when working with law enforcement
  
• Determine how to provide evidence and cooperate within legal boundaries, including
  
  
  • Subpoenas and Court orders
    
  • Attorney engagements
    
  • Identifying when an investigator must recuse him/herself from a case

DAY TWO

Module 7: Advanced Investigator Strategies For Evidence Collection and Preservation

• Working with IT in Collecting Digital Evidence:
  
  
  • Internet log / Virtual Private Network (VPN)
  • Surveillance systems
  • Phone records
  • Employee access card records
  • Electronic messages
  • Social media
  
  
• Identifying and Collecting Open Records Evidence
  
  
  • County courthouse records
  • Online information services (Lexis Nexis)
  
  
• Best Practices in Identifying, Collecting, And Preserving Physical Evidence In The Workplace
  
  
  • Preventing evidence tampering
  • Preserving and safeguarding evidence that has been collected
  • Handling and disposal of dangerous or illegal drugs and weapons

Module 8: Advanced Techniques For Developing, Acquiring, And Documenting Testimonial Evidence

• Preparation strategies for conducting witness interviews
  
• Examine the Bulls Eye technique for investigative interviewing
  
• Develop interview questions and strategy
  
• Establishing timelines to identify fact patterns
  
• Establish security protocols for investigative interviews

Module 9: Best Practices for Documentation and Preparing an Investigation Report

• Using standardized formats that are "court ready"
  
• Timesaving Best Practices: headers, footers, drop-downs, appropriate stamps
  
• Preparing investigation reports for outside parties to understand
  
• Eliminating opinion and bias from the report
  
• Incorporating electronic evidence into reports without creating challenges
  
• Preserving documents and post-investigation risk mitigation strategies

Module 10: Group Activity: Conducting an Advanced Level Mock Investigation Involving a Possible Code of Business Conduct, an Ethics Violation, and Retaliation

Module 11: Wrap Up

• Program Summary
• Action Steps Beyond the Program