Conduct and discipline

Invitation to an investigation meeting letter

Asks the employee to attend a fact-finding meeting about an allegation, making clear it is not a hearing.

Something has been alleged and you need to find out what happened before deciding whether there is a case to answer. The investigation is neutral. Ideally the investigator is not the person who will chair any later hearing.

Before it goes

  • You have decided who investigates and who would chair a hearing if there is one. Different people where the business size allows.
  • You have the allegation in one or two factual sentences.
  • You have decided whether suspension is necessary (rarely) and, if so, sent that letter separately.

The letter

[COMPANY NAME] [COMPANY ADDRESS] [DATE] [EMPLOYEE NAME] [EMPLOYEE ADDRESS] Dear [EMPLOYEE FIRST NAME], Investigation meeting: [DATE] I am writing to ask you to attend an investigation meeting on [DATE] at [TIME] at [LOCATION]. The meeting will be conducted by [INVESTIGATOR NAME], [TITLE]. [NOTE-TAKER NAME] will take notes. The purpose of the meeting is to establish the facts about the following: [THE ALLEGATION, in one or two factual sentences, e.g. It is alleged that on [DATE] at approximately [TIME] you left the [SITE] without informing your supervisor and did not return for the remainder of the shift.] This is a fact-finding meeting, not a disciplinary hearing. No decision about disciplinary action will be taken at it. Depending on what the investigation finds, the matter may be closed, dealt with informally, or referred to a disciplinary hearing, in which case you will be told in writing and given the evidence in advance. You do not have a statutory right to be accompanied at an investigation meeting, but you are welcome to bring a work colleague or trade union representative if you wish. If you cannot attend on that date, please tell me as soon as possible so we can rearrange. If you have any documents or names of witnesses you would like the investigator to consider, please bring them or send them to [EMAIL] beforehand. Yours sincerely, [MANAGER NAME] [JOB TITLE] [COMPANY NAME]

Filling it in

The allegation
What is alleged, when, where. Not what you have concluded. The word "alleged" is doing real work.
The investigator
Not the complainant, not the witness, and if you can manage it, not the person who will chair the hearing. In a small firm, be honest in the letter if the same person has to do both.

What the law says

  • Acas Code of Practice, paragraphs 5 to 8: establish the facts promptly, before memories fade; the investigation meeting is not a disciplinary hearing and the statutory right to be accompanied does not apply to it, though allowing a companion is good practice.
  • Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures: a tribunal can adjust compensation by up to 25% for an unreasonable failure to follow it.
Guidance, not legal advice. Employment law moves; check the current position before relying on any of it, and take advice on anything that could end someone's employment.

What turns this letter into a claim

  • Do not decide the outcome before the meeting. An investigation that only collects evidence against the employee is not an investigation.
  • Do not let it drag. Days, not weeks. Set the meeting within a week of the letter.

Questions people ask

Do I always need an investigation meeting?

You always need an investigation. Sometimes the facts are on CCTV or in the clock records and a meeting with the employee is the whole of it; sometimes you need to speak to witnesses first. What you must not do is skip straight to a hearing on an assumption.

Can the employee refuse to attend?

They can, and you can proceed on the evidence you have, having told them so. Give them one rearranged date and record the refusal. Their non-attendance is not itself misconduct unless it is unreasonable.

The letter, with the names already in

Employ AI drafts letters like this one from the employee's record, so the dates, service and pay are already right, and the disciplinary module writes the invitation and outcome letters from the case itself. All 44 letter families, 49 UK policies, GPS clock-in, rotas, leave and timesheets: £2.50 a month plus £1 per employee. 14 days free, no card.

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