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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19. What if the employee under investigation raises a grievance during the investigation?

19. What if the employee under investigation raises a grievance during the investigation?

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Finland

Finland

  • at Roschier
  • at Roschier

If the nature of the grievance relates to the employer's obligations to handle such matters in general, the grievance will be investigated either separately or as a part of the ongoing investigation.

Last updated on 15/09/2022

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Netherlands

  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

There are a lot of possibilities for grievances that employees can raise during an investigation. A grievance, for instance, could be that a certain person is not interviewed, while the employee wanted this person to be interviewed in order to have a thorough investigation. In such a case the investigator needs to assess this grievance.

There is no general rule how to react to a grievance and there is also no general obligation to respond to a grievance. There needs to be a case by case assessment based on which further action is or isn't needed.

Last updated on 27/11/2023

26. How long should the outcome of the investigation remain on the employee’s record?

26. How long should the outcome of the investigation remain on the employee’s record?

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Finland

Finland

  • at Roschier
  • at Roschier

Please see question 7. The outcome of the investigation involving personal data may be retained only for as long as is necessary considering the purposes of the processing. In general, the retention of investigation-related data may be necessary while the investigation is still ongoing and even then the requirements of data minimization and accuracy should be considered. The data concerning the outcome of an investigation should be registered to the employee's record merely to the extent necessary in light of the employment relationship or potential disciplinary measures. In this respect, the applicable retention time depends on labour law-related rights and limitations, considering eg, the applicable periods for filing a suit.

Last updated on 15/09/2022

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Netherlands

  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
  • at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

The outcomes are usually kept in the records until termination of the employment agreement and only deleted when personal records are deleted.

Last updated on 15/09/2022