Workplace Investigations
Contributing Editors
Workplace investigations are growing in number, size and complexity. Employers are under greater scrutiny as of the importance of ESG rises. Regulated industries such as finance, healthcare and legal face additional hurdles, but public scrutiny of businesses and how they treat their people across the board has never been higher. Conducting a fair and thorough workplace investigation is therefore critical to the optimal operation, governance and legal exposure of every business.
IEL’s Guide to Workplace Investigations examines key issues that organisations need to consider as they initiate, conduct and conclude investigations in 29 major jurisdictions around the world.
Learn more about the response taken in specific countries or build your own report to compare approaches taken around the world.
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16. If there is a works council or trade union, does it have any right to be informed or involved in the investigation?
16. If there is a works council or trade union, does it have any right to be informed or involved in the investigation?
Spain
Spain
- at Uría Menéndez
- at Uría Menéndez
As explained in question 15, employees are not entitled to representation during an investigation. However, if a disciplinary procedure starts as a result of the investigation, employee representatives may be entitled to be informed of the disciplinary procedure and its outcome.
The degree and timing of when employee representatives must be involved will depend on several factors such as:
- the employee’s affiliation to a union;
- if the employee is an employee representative;
- the seriousness of the potential sanction to be imposed; and
- the information rights that the applicable collective bargaining agreement acknowledges regarding employee representatives.
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
- at Slaughter and May
- at Slaughter and May
Aside from the statutory right to be accompanied (see question 15), any further involvement by the works council or trade union would depend on the terms of the relevant works council or trade union recognition agreement.