Workplace investigations for HR and managers

For HR professionals, managers and small-business owners who need to run prompt, fair, well-documented investigations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation and other workplace complaints.

For: HR professionals and generalists, people managers, small-business owners, employee relations staff and anyone who receives or investigates workplace complaints.

  • 3 contact hours
  • 9 modules
  • 9 interactives
  • 3 job aids
  • Updated October 11, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Determine when an employer must investigate, applying Title VII, 29 CFR 1604.11, the Faragher/Ellerth defense and the current status of EEOC guidance.
  • Plan and scope an investigation, select a qualified and impartial investigator, and choose interim measures that do not burden the complainant.
  • Prevent retaliation and manage confidentiality lawfully, including NLRA Section 7 limits and Weingarten rights in unionized workplaces.
  • Interview complainants, respondents and witnesses effectively, and gather, preserve and log evidence.
  • Assess credibility using recognized factors and reach findings under the preponderance of the evidence standard.
  • Write a clear investigation report, choose proportionate remedial action, communicate outcomes and retain records under 29 CFR 1602.14.

Learn when an investigation is required and how to run one from start to finish: planning and scoping, choosing an impartial investigator, interim measures that don't burden the complainant, interviewing complainants, respondents and witnesses, preserving and logging evidence, assessing credibility, reaching findings under the preponderance standard, writing the report, taking remedial action and keeping records under 29 CFR 1602.14.

The course is grounded in Title VII, the EEOC's harassment regulation (29 CFR 1604.11), Supreme Court decisions including Faragher, Ellerth, Vance and Burlington Northern, NLRA Section 7 and Weingarten rights, and California's investigation requirements, with a dated status note on the EEOC's rescinded 2024 harassment guidance. Cases include a Missouri warehouse, an Arizona veterinary group, a Georgia resort hotel, a unionized Ohio plant, a Vermont bakery and an Arizona software startup.

You will practice with a decision tree, a state rules lookup, an interim-measures dilemma, spot-the-mistake exercises on an interview transcript and a confidentiality memo, and a full branching investigation. Job aids include an investigation plan template, an interview pocket guide and a report and closing checklist.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Open an investigation file and written plan within a day or two of any serious complaint.
  2. Send preservation and anti-retaliation notices at the start of every investigation.
  3. Use a consistent interview opening and open questions, and document interviews the same day.
  4. Replace blanket gag orders with specific, temporary, reasoned confidentiality requests.
  5. Analyze each allegation separately with the credibility factors and the preponderance standard.
  6. Close every file with a neutral report, proportionate action, outcome letters and scheduled follow-up.

Curriculum

9 modules · 36 lessons · about 3 contact hours

01When does an employer need to investigate?Free preview20 min
  1. Why investigations matter legally
  2. What triggers a duty to look into it?
  3. Investigations beyond harassment
  4. The shifting guidance landscape (status as of October 2026)
  • Decision tree: Must we investigate, and how?
  • State rules selector: State harassment policy and training rules that affect investigations

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

02How do you plan and scope an investigation, and who should investigate?20 min
  1. Start with a written plan
  2. Choosing the investigator
  3. Common planning mistakes
  4. Running the investigation: file, timeline and engagement
  • Sort activity: Who should investigate?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

03What interim measures are appropriate, and how do you prevent retaliation?20 min
  1. What are interim measures for?
  2. Retaliation: the claim employers lose most often
  3. Preventing retaliation in practice
  4. Supporting both parties during the process
  • Ethics dilemma: Interim measures at the hotel

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

04How do you interview the complainant, respondent and witnesses?24 min
  1. Preparing for interviews
  2. Interviewing the complainant
  3. Interviewing the respondent and witnesses
  4. Difficult interview situations
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in an interview transcript

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

05How do you gather, preserve and document evidence?20 min
  1. Types of evidence
  2. Preservation: stop evidence from disappearing
  3. Organizing evidence and building a timeline
  4. Electronic evidence: practical pitfalls
  • Matching activity: Match the allegation to the most useful evidence

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

06How do confidentiality, NLRA Section 7 and Weingarten rights affect investigations?22 min
  1. Confidentiality: what you can and cannot promise
  2. NLRA Section 7 and confidentiality instructions
  3. Weingarten rights in unionized workplaces
  4. Rumors, team communication and agency inquiries
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in an investigation instruction memo

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

07How do you assess credibility and reach findings?24 min
  1. The standard of proof: preponderance of the evidence
  2. The credibility factors
  3. Putting it together: Josephine's analysis
  4. Analytical traps to avoid
  • Self-assessment: Investigator readiness self-check

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

08How do you handle special situations?20 min
  1. Anonymous complaints and exit-interview disclosures
  2. Senior leaders, multiple complainants and non-employees
  3. When the respondent resigns, or the complainant withdraws
  4. Remote, hybrid and multi-state workforces

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

09How do you write the report, take remedial action and close the file?26 min
  1. Writing the investigation report
  2. Remedial action that works
  3. Record retention and small employers
  4. The whole process on one page
  • Branching scenario: An investigation at a software startup

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 29 questions, 80% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

An investigation at a software startup

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

An investigation at a software startup

You are Verity Hargreaves, the only HR generalist at a 60-person software startup in Chandler, Arizona. A senior engineer, Elspeth Ishikawa, reports that a product lead, Rafferty Upton, has repeatedly dismissed her ideas in meetings with comments about "women engineers" and recently removed her from a launch team after she objected.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Decision tree1
  • State rules selector1
  • Sort activity1
  • Ethics dilemma1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Matching activity1
  • Self-assessment1
  • Branching scenario1

Job aids you keep

  • Workplace Investigation PlanTemplate
  • Investigation Interview Pocket GuidePocket card
  • Investigation Report and Closing ChecklistChecklist

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 3 contact hours of instruction. It is not currently approved by any HR certification body, state bar, licensing board, continuing education accreditor or state agency, and it is not a substitute for state-specific harassment prevention training mandates. Your employer or certifying body decides whether it counts toward a requirement; check before you rely on it.

Pathways we may pursue include recertification credit programs for HR professionals and continuing education approval for related professions. None of these approvals exists today; the course page will show an approval only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

Questions about this course

Who should take this course?

HR professionals, people managers and small-business owners who receive complaints or may need to investigate them. It is also useful for employee relations staff and anyone who supervises investigators. No prior investigation experience is required.

Does this course satisfy my state's harassment training requirement?

No. It is a course on conducting investigations, not a state-mandated harassment prevention training program, and it is not approved by any state agency. States such as California, New York and Illinois set their own training content and audiences.

Does it reflect the EEOC's 2024 harassment guidance?

The course includes a dated status note: the EEOC voted on January 22, 2026 to rescind its 2024 harassment guidance. The course relies on Title VII, the EEOC's regulation, Supreme Court decisions and long-standing investigation practice, and cites the EEOC's 1999 guidance as a description of practice.

Does it cover unionized workplaces?

Yes. A full module covers NLRA Section 7, confidentiality instructions and Weingarten rights, including the employer's three options when an employee asks for a representative, and reminds you to follow your collective bargaining agreement.

How long does it take, and what do I receive?

About three hours: nine modules with real-world cases, interactive exercises and knowledge checks, and a final assessment. When you pass, you receive a certificate of completion for 3 contact hours and three job aids.

Is this legal advice?

No. It explains general principles and good practice. For high-risk matters, such as allegations against senior leaders, possible criminal conduct or threatened litigation, involve an employment attorney.

This course is general education and training awareness from CE Courses Hub on workplace investigations. It is not legal advice and does not replace your employer's policies, applicable federal, state and local law, your collective bargaining agreement, or advice from a qualified employment attorney. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your board, employer or state agency whether this course meets your specific requirement.