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Acting for the individual
The first hour decides the rest.
You have been asked to a meeting, probably at short notice, quite possibly without the allegations in writing. What you say now is the record.
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Individual
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Individual
Three sides · One standard
The first hour
What you say first is the record.
Four things decide most investigations, and all four happen before anyone has decided anything. None of them require a lawyer in the room — but all of them are easier with one who has read the file.
Scroll
01
Before the meeting
Ask for the allegations in writing, and for the documents being relied on. You are entitled to know the case before you answer it, and asking in writing puts the date on the record.
02
In the room
You may be accompanied, and the right is wider than most employers volunteer. Answer the question that was asked. Where you do not know, say you do not know rather than filling the silence.
03
The same week
Check the notes against what you actually said, in writing, while you still remember it. Uncorrected notes become the findings, and findings are what a tribunal reads two years later.
04
If it escalates
A suspension is not a sanction and an invitation is not a charge. The response that decides most of these is written, not spoken, and it is worth taking a week over.
The first hour
What you say first is the record.
Four things decide most investigations, and all four happen before anyone has decided anything. None of them require a lawyer in the room — but all of them are easier with one who has read the file.
Scroll
01
Before the meeting
Ask for the allegations in writing, and for the documents being relied on. You are entitled to know the case before you answer it, and asking in writing puts the date on the record.
02
In the room
You may be accompanied, and the right is wider than most employers volunteer. Answer the question that was asked. Where you do not know, say you do not know rather than filling the silence.
03
The same week
Check the notes against what you actually said, in writing, while you still remember it. Uncorrected notes become the findings, and findings are what a tribunal reads two years later.
04
If it escalates
A suspension is not a sanction and an invitation is not a charge. The response that decides most of these is written, not spoken, and it is worth taking a week over.
Plainly
Fixed for the first stage
01 — Being investigated
Being investigated is not the same as having done it, and a suspension is not a sanction. Neutral acts are still acts, and how the process is run is very often the thing that decides it.
01 — Being investigated
Being investigated is not the same as having done it, and a suspension is not a sanction. Neutral acts are still acts, and how the process is run is very often the thing that decides it.
02 — What it costs you
The first stage is fixed. You will know what it costs before you instruct us, and if the answer is that you do not need a lawyer yet, we will tell you that instead.
02 — What it costs you
The first stage is fixed. You will know what it costs before you instruct us, and if the answer is that you do not need a lawyer yet, we will tell you that instead.
Across the table from
We know how the other letter reads, because we usually write it.
We know how the other letter reads, because we usually write it.
Both sides · Never the same matter
Before you answer
the first question.
Before you answer
the first question.
No charge · No conflict · No file opened