Independent workplace investigations in Birmingham.
External investigators for grievances, bullying and harassment complaints, whistleblowing disclosures and disciplinary investigations across Birmingham and the surrounding region. ACAS compliant and tribunal ready.
A workplace investigation is the foundation of every disciplinary or grievance decision that follows it. Employment tribunals rarely retry the underlying allegation. What they scrutinise is whether the employer carried out a reasonable investigation, whether the employee knew the case against them, and whether the conclusion was one a reasonable employer could have reached. A flawed disciplinary investigation is the most common reason a defensible dismissal becomes an unfair one.
Clerk&Counsel places independent investigators with Birmingham employers who need the fact finding done properly by someone with no stake in the answer. Investigators on the panel include practising barristers with experience at the Birmingham Employment Tribunal at Centre City Tower and experienced non-barrister workplace investigators, and we match the investigator to the seniority, sensitivity and subject matter of the complaint.
We work with employers, HR directors, boards, schools and academy trusts, charities, NHS bodies, local authorities and professional firms across Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Worcester, Leicester and the wider Midlands, and with the solicitors advising them. Clerk&Counsel is a clerking agency and a trading style of Found First Digital Ltd, not a chambers and not a firm of solicitors.
Investigations we carry out in Birmingham.
- Grievances against senior leaders, directors, trustees and governors.
- Bullying and harassment complaints, including team culture allegations.
- Discrimination complaints across all protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
- Whistleblowing and protected disclosure investigations, including anonymous disclosures.
- Sexual misconduct allegations, including matters engaging the duty to prevent harassment.
- Disciplinary investigations into gross misconduct, dishonesty, expenses and data misuse.
- Multi-complainant investigations and departmental culture reviews.
- Regulated sector matters where a referral to a professional regulator may follow.
How the investigation is run.
Every instruction starts with written terms of reference recording the allegations, whether findings of fact are required, whether the investigator is to express a view on whether there is a case to answer, who receives the report, the timetable and the fee. That document prevents the two recurring problems in workplace investigations, which are scope creep and an investigator being asked to take a decision that belongs to the employer.
The investigator reviews the documentary material, agrees the interview list, and interviews the complainant, the person under investigation and the witnesses. Interviewees are told the purpose of the interview, their right to be accompanied where it applies, and how their evidence will be used. Notes are put back to each interviewee for comment and appended to the report.
The person under investigation receives the substance of the allegations and a fair opportunity to answer before any findings are made. Findings of fact are made on the balance of probabilities with reasons that explain why one account has been preferred over another, in a form that stands up if the matter reaches the Birmingham Employment Tribunal at Centre City Tower.
Employers we act for around Birmingham.
Birmingham and West Midlands employers instructing external investigators include manufacturers, logistics operators, NHS bodies, local authorities, academy trusts, universities and family owned businesses. In owner-managed companies in particular there is often no internal person senior enough or sufficiently removed to investigate a complaint about a director.
Investigations in this region are frequently shaped by what happens if they go wrong. Claims are heard at the Birmingham Employment Tribunal at Centre City Tower, and the investigation file is disclosable. A report that records the evidence, explains the reasoning and stays within its terms of reference is the single most useful document an employer can have in that position.
Coverage extends across Solihull, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Worcester, Leicester and the wider Midlands, with interviews conducted in person or remotely depending on the witness and the subject matter.
What happens next.
The investigator does not chair the hearing or impose a sanction. Where further support is needed we can place:
- Independent chairs for disciplinary, grievance and appeal hearings.
- Workplace and employment mediators where the relationship can be repaired.
- Employment counsel to advise on merits, draft the response and conduct the tribunal hearing.
- Policy and procedure reviews following a systemic finding.
Specialist areas within this practice.
- Independent workplace investigations
The national service, terms of reference and fees.
- Workplace mediation
Repairing working relationships without a formal process.
- Employment barristers
Tribunal advocacy, advice and appeals.
- Employment and discrimination barristers
Discrimination claims for claimants and respondents.
Need an independent investigator in Birmingham?
Send the allegations in outline, the policy that applies and the timescale you are working to. A clerk will come back with investigator options and a written fixed fee.
Common questions.
Why appoint an external investigator rather than use HR?
Because impartiality has to be visible as well as real. Where the allegation is against a senior leader, where HR is a witness, where several complainants are involved, or where the matter may end up at the Birmingham Employment Tribunal at Centre City Tower, an internal investigation invites a challenge to the process rather than the findings. An external investigator removes that argument.
How long does a workplace investigation take?
The ACAS Code requires investigations to be carried out without unreasonable delay. A single allegation with two or three witnesses is usually finished in two to three weeks. A multi-strand grievance against a senior manager with a dozen interviews normally takes four to eight weeks. The timetable is set in the terms of reference at the outset.
Can interviews be held remotely?
Yes. Interviews are conducted in person in Birmingham where that is better for the witness or the sensitivity of the subject matter, and by video where it is not. Many investigations use a mixture, with the complainant and the person under investigation seen in person and peripheral witnesses interviewed remotely.
Does the investigator decide the outcome?
No. The investigator establishes the facts and, where the terms of reference require it, says whether there is a case to answer. The decision on any sanction rests with the employer's decision maker. Keeping those roles separate is one of the things a tribunal will look at if the dismissal is later challenged.
What does it cost?
A written fixed fee, or a capped fee for larger matters, based on the number of allegations, the number of interviews and the volume of documents. It is agreed before the terms of reference are signed.