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Originally Posted by MattyC
Thanks again.
I guess my thought would be, do you feel it’s within your duties (or should be) to support them in their pursuit of evidence? Or is it/should it be entirely up to them to try and record a conversation.
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So with this example, difficulty occurs when I now advise an employee to enter a situation where they feel unsafe. Not only could get me in a good deal of trouble, it possibly put this person's safety at risk.
The best course of action is to have that person not to have any more contact than necessary with that employee.
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Like mentioned, if someone comes and tells you they think someone is stealing, all of a sudden eyes are on them. Why is it not the same here? I guess it comes down to, does the HR/the company really think there’s a high enough possibility that there are frequently false accusations to the point that when someone has a claim but no evidence that there’s no support in actually seeking out evidence? Especially when there are resources jumping to try and catch Joe Blo stealing a ream of paper?
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I think I get what you are trying to ask.
I guess that is the crux of the issue. Once we are aware of a potential situation with harassment, it has to stop immediately. The goal isn't to "catch" someone in the act like it is theft, this has to do with the safety of a person. What we do from that point on, such as separating their shifts, speaking to the individuals involved, putting plans for minimizing interaction in place, is all with the goal of making sure it doesn't happen again and providing a safe work environment for the individuals involved.
Even if there is no evidence supporting the allegation, a meeting with HR about it will scare the crap out of the accused and generally puts an end to most situations.
Most situations aren't quite as black and white as that in my experience. The chances that two perfectly innocent employees are implicated in something like this with no evidence is pretty unlikely. Generally there is a pattern, retaliation because of a disciplinary action, previous history, etc.