Unethical Supervisor

jbanda · January 2002

I was given the difficult task of investigating the accusation of several employees in regards to their immediate supervisor, the employees are complaining that their supervisor is having an affair with a subordinate, the supervisor supposed to also being altering the time cards for himself and his favor employees (accomplices), among other things, The problem is that most of the employees under the supervisor are his accomplices and I don't believe that many will make a statement or say anything negative about the supervisor. I Know I need to start an investigation, but what are some of the questions I should ask? does anybody have a questionnaire form that would like to share? does the employee need to sign the statement form? or their word is good enough? Any HR expert that could give some advice?.

thanks in advance for your response. My emial: [email]jbanda@americanleather.com[/email]

Hatchetman · January 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-23-02 AT 03:32PM (CST)[/font][p]The specific questions of course will depend on the specific information elicited and information known already. I think the more important aspect of your investigation, given your comments, is to get both the emplyee and the supervisor down on the record as to what is occurring and try to establish that what they've said is true or not true, to the extent that you can.

Firstly, figure out what you need to look into. Is it the romantic relationship, a conflict of interest, falsificaiton of timecards, with supervisor knowledge, favoritism, or something else, or all of them.

You need to plan your approach. Do some preliminary "research" -- take a look at time cards, other records, you may have available that addresses the issues.

You may want to talk to some other employees, especially those employees who are complaining. They may have some specific information. But be careful, given your statement that some direct subordinates may be supportive of the supervisor.

When questioning the employee and supervisor, ask general questions, at first -- foundational, if you will -- find out what the normal practice is, find out how the supervisor and employee relate both on and off the job, how time is recorded. Get them committed to a "practice" or "position" on the record.

Then become more pointed in the quesitoning. If there are any inconsistencies or problems with specifc incidents, based upon the factual information you do have, question them about it. Be probing. Don't just leave an answer as is, if you think it is important information. Move on and then come back to it. See if the sueprvisor, employee and others have credibility in their responses (do they change answers, come up with new informaiton to explain away, come up with unlikely explanations, come up with explanations that aren't supported or are contradicted by other indivduals or established facts, or are internally insconsistent with their own answers, etc.)

You may have to interview witnesses, especially the supervisor, a couple of times.

You also may have to monitor and observe the supervisor and the employees. Since you say that there may be time card falsficiaton going on with the concurrence of the supervisor, you actually may have to arrange some monitoring of their time unknown to them, and then compare it to what they record on their time cards. If there is a problem then you can question them about it. You may want to do the monioring BEFORE you start the interviews.

Your attempt in all this is to establish whether or not the alleged misdoings are in fact occurring. It may in part turn solely on credibility of various individuals, so as you are interviewing them, you need to be aware of credibility issues.

I would either tape record -- let the interviewee know -- taking notes or have the witness write up a statement (you also take notes during the interview).

Just some of my general thoughts on how to proceed. Good luck.

TheCol · January 2002

Phew. I spent three years in the Pentagon with the Inspector General of the Army doing what you are doing. I can try to help along the way if you wish: [email]ColC@Bellsouth.net[/email]. My wisdom for now would be to notify the Supervisor of the allegations, generally, and get the superboss (appointing authority) to set the "Supervisor" aside pending the outcome of your look-see. Make your inquiry and report as quickly as you can.

good luck!

Gar · January 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-24-02 AT 05:26PM (CST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-24-02 AT 12:40 PM (CST)[/font]

This sounds like it has the potential for being legally messy. I suggest that before you begin, speak to your legal department about attorney/client privilege protection covering the results of your investigation. This is in case you have to discipline someone and they sue. After all, your investigation may very well uncover info you may not want discovered by opposing legal counsel. The privilege will make it harder for them to get that info. Also, prepare a written statement to be read to each person you interview prior to asking them questions. I suggest something like this:

The Company's legal counsel has directed me to conduct an investigation into the matter of _______. You are expected to cooperate fully with this investigation. You are also expected to be truthful and above board in your statements. Also, you should not speak to anyone, about this investigation, who does not have a legitimate need to know. In addition, you are warned that retaliation or any inappropriate behavior toward anyone involved in this investigation is prohibited. This includes persons that you may believe participated in the investigation. Any violation of the aforementioned could lead to disciplinary action up to the termination of your employment.

Good luck.

JJ · January 2002

One additional place to search for information is by contacting ex-employees that worked for this supervisor, especially if there has been a high turn-over. I have found that current employees are reluctant to talk about their supervisor but ex-employees have nothing to lose. Of course, you have to be careful that you don't rely on information from people who were fired for cause and may have a grudge against the supervisor or company. Good luck, these are tough investigations.

System · January 2002

In light of your question here on the forum, we'll be featuring the following article as the HRhero.com HR Tip of the Week starting tomorrow. Hope it helps!

Pointers on conducting internal investigations
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/headlines/012502/investigations.shtml[/url]

Christy Reeder
Website Managing Editor
[url]www.HRhero.com[/url]

Branigan · January 2002

AFTER you consult with your firm's attorney, you might consider installing a surveillance camera in the timeclock area which will, of course, be continuously recording and duly note when each employee clocks in and out. This assumes that the timeclock is not located in a prohibited area such as an employee restroom. If the clock area on the timeclock is very small, you might also want to consider installing a larger, separate clock right next to it. A posted notice that the area is being video surveillanced, as well as notices on paycheck stubs, may be required. Bear in mind that your video tape should NOT be audio taping. Before you start this procedure and before you even notify supervisors or staff that this will be taking place, make sure that all past timecards are stored in a secured, perhaps offsite area. After a preselected period of observation, maybe as long as a month, begin comparing the timecards with past timecards and you may be able to use this as a basis to begin your supervisor/employee investigation.
Susan Ruiz Branigan, LPI
Braniz Research
Slidell, LA

Unethical Supervisor

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