When an employee is accused of wrongdoing, it is a natural human reaction to go on the offensive or at least to deny all. This is often not the best approach and results in escalation rather than maintaining a constructive employment relationship.
The scenario is typically that an employer commences an investigation into allegations or complaints made against an employee. At that point there are a couple of ways that it can go.
At one extreme, an employee may claim that the allegations are completely without foundation and that they should not even have to respond to them or be put through an investigation process. There have been cases where an employee has gone to the Authority to seek an injunction to stop an investigation occurring, on this basis.
These cases are generally unsuccessful as the Authority tends to take the view that an employer should be allowed to conduct its own investigation, and that it should not pre empt the outcome of that process by intervening before it is concluded. If the employer’s process is subsequently assessed to be unfair or heavy handed, remedies can be awarded to the employee at that point.
Not surprisingly, this approach can damage an employment relationship, regardless of whether the original allegations against the employee were well founded or not. It is difficult, in this respect, to carry on an employment relationship having brought legal proceedings against your employer. Litigating mid investigation also extends the process and entrenches positions.
That is not to say that this is right or fair– employees should be able to challenge their employer if they believe they are being treated unfairly - but it is the reality.
Confronting the complainant is also likely to derail an employment relationship, particularly where an employee has been directed not to. As soon as an employer gets a whiff of retribution or intimidation, things are not going to go well. Likewise breaching confidentiality is taken seriously by employers and can be raised as an additional allegation against an employee.
The alternative approach is to seek to work with the employer to ensure the process is conducted as quickly and constructively as it can be. This does not mean an employee should necessarily concede that they have done anything wrong, but engaging in the process in an open and honest way, can go a long way.
It is also helpful if an employee can demonstrate that they have reflected on what they could have done differently and acknowledge if their performance or conduct was “sub-optimal” in some respect.
This is a balancing exercise, because falling on one’s sword or doing a complete “mea culpa” may provide an employer with a basis for taking disciplinary action, or even dismissal. But the flipside is that a failure to take responsibility can itself be taken into account by an employer in determining whether it can have trust and confidence in an employee going forward.
Most of the time in an employment context the situation is not black and white, so acknowledging the grey and making constructive suggestions about how to avoid these issues in the future is the key.
The employment relationship is ultimately a human relationship. We all make mistakes – the question is how we choose to deal with them. Going on the attack seldom results in a satisfactory outcome, even if an employee is proved “right”.
Most employers will respect an employee who takes a reasonable and constructive approach to an employment process. An employer will also want to see that an employee has owned their mistakes, learned from them, and is unlikely to repeat them.
Whether this is enough to save their job will depend on the gravity of the allegations and whether they are substantiated, but there will be more chance of a successful ongoing relationship if the house has not been burnt down in the meantime.
Originally published in The Post
