Conducting human resource investigations: responsibilities

(Appendix A: Accountability Framework for Human Resource Management)

This appendix establishes a clear allocation of responsibility among supervisors/managers, senior executives in line ministries and the BC Public Service Agency (PSA) for conducting human resource investigations to ensure investigations:

• Are conducted in accordance with the principles of administrative fairness
• Have a clearly articulated scope and focus, both of which are reassessed on a regular basis
• Have appropriate lines of reporting and a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities

On this page

• Overview of the investigative process
• Administrative fairness
• Scope and focus
• Key responsibilities of main participants in the investigative process

Overview of the investigative process

Supervisors/managers are required to notify the PSA after being made aware of allegations of employee misconduct that, if confirmed, may result in discipline.

Once the Agency has been informed, a PSA representative will review the allegations with the manager to determine if an investigation is required.

For complaints filed by a member of BCGEU or PEA on a Bullying/Misuse of Authority Complaint Form (Article 1.10) the employer will notify the employee’s union within 10 days of receiving the complaint. The employee may ask their union for assistance before submitting their complaint, or for updates on any review or investigation arising from their complaint.

Where the issue is determined to be relatively minor, the PSA will support the manager in informally addressing the matter without need for the PSA to be directly involved in any formal investigation or review that may be conducted.

Where the issue involves allegations of serious misconduct, the PSA must either lead the investigation or approve the lead investigator.

The process for conducting an investigation then proceeds as follows:

• Appointment of the investigative team
• Gathering of evidence by the investigators, including interviews with individuals relevant to the case (complainant, respondent and other witnesses), and the review of any relevant documents
• Assessment by the investigators of the evidence to make findings of fact and determine whether the findings support or refute the allegations that prompted the investigation

Once an investigation is concluded, the investigators will report the findings to the appropriate decision-maker in the ministry. For complaints filed by a member of BCGEU or PEA on a Bullying/Misuse of Authority Complaint Form (Article 1.10) the complainant and respondent will be provided a written outline of the findings once the investigation or review is completed. 

The findings will also be shared with an employee relations specialist or senior labour relations specialist in the Agency, who will analyze the investigative findings and discuss options and recommendations with the decision-maker regarding how best to proceed.

For more detailed information on the investigative process, please refer to the information on Investigations of allegations of employee misconduct.

Review Key responsibilities of main participants in the investigative process for more information.

Administrative fairness

Investigations of human resource matters must be performed in a manner consistent with the principles of administrative fairness.

Principles to be observed include:

• The right to be informed. The respondent(s) must be provided with sufficient information regarding the allegations that led to the investigation, and be informed of their rights and responsibilities during the interview process (such as confidentiality)
• The right to an impartial investigator. The investigation must be conducted in an impartial and objective manner by an individual who is neutral, has no involvement, is not a witness to events, and has no pre-determined hypothesis or outcome in mind
• The right to be heard and present evidence. The respondent(s) must be afforded a full opportunity to respond to any allegations, including the ability to present their version of the facts, identify witnesses and submit documentary evidence
• The right to be accompanied. The respondent(s) must be provided with the opportunity to have a support person or representative with them during interviews (such as a union shop steward, a lawyer if an excluded employee, a family member)
• The right to a thorough investigation. The investigators must interview all relevant witnesses (as identified by respondent(s), witnesses or the investigators) and examine all relevant evidence that is uncovered or disclosed during the investigation, including potential alibis, alternate explanations, and/or mitigating circumstances
• The right to respond to all allegations. The respondent(s) has the right to address all allegations that could form the basis of disciplinary action, including any evidence or information provided by another witness that conflicts with the evidence the respondent provided
• The right to a timely conclusion. Investigations must be conducted without unreasonable delay to ensure that the respondent’s rights are not prejudiced as a result of the investigation taking too long

Confidentiality and retaliation

Employees are expected to treat the complaint, investigation and interviews as strictly confidential.

Information obtained during, or commentary about, an investigation, including the outcome, should not be shared with others at the workplace, with the exception of the employee’s union representative, or support person for a non-union employee.

If information about individuals involved in an investigation were disclosed to parties that are not authorized to receive this information it could impact the integrity of the investigation and/or could unfairly cause harm to involved individuals including damage to their professional reputation.

The responsibility to maintain confidentiality in the investigative process derives from the:

• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This restricts the disclosure of personal information except where authorized by that Act
• Standards of Conduct for BC Public Service employees. This obliges employees who receive confidential information during the course of their employment to not disclose, release or transmit that information to anyone other than persons who are authorized to receive the information

No individual should be subject to indirect or direct retaliation as a result of:

• Filing a complaint
• Responding to a complaint
• Participating in an investigation

Complaints of retaliation will be fully investigated and any retaliation, once confirmed, will be addressed.

Scope and focus

Scope and focus refers to the parameters of the investigative process that enable the employer to look into the relevant issues of concern.

A clear scope and focus is crucial to ensuring all participants in the investigation understand why they are involved and what allegations are being investigated, and to ensuring human and other investigative resources are used efficiently.

Scope and focus are set out in the Terms of Reference established for all investigations of alleged serious misconduct.

Specifically, the Terms of Reference:

• Articulate the purpose and scope of the investigation (such as to investigate allegations of a breach of the Standards of Conduct)
• Identify the investigative team (typically one investigator from the PSA and a co-investigator from the ministry)
• Identify those responsible for oversight of the investigation (typically a management representative from Employee Relations at the PSA and a senior management representative from the ministry)
• Establish the authority under which the investigation occurs (such as the Public Service Act, Financial Administration Act, provisions of the Core Policy and Procedures Manual, etc.)

Importantly, where the investigators determine that evidence uncovered by the investigation does not fit within the current Terms of Reference, they must discuss such evidence with the oversight team.

The oversight team will confer with the investigators and, where deemed necessary, may direct that changes be made to the Terms of Reference to ensure the investigation proceeds based on an accurate articulation of its scope and focus, or that the evidence be disregarded as outside the scope of the investigation.

Where deemed out of scope, the oversight team will make a determination regarding whether the evidence requires the employer to conduct a separate review or investigation.

Key responsibilities of main participants in the investigative process

These key responsibilities are provided to ensure clear lines of reporting and delineation of duties among those participating in the investigative process.

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