INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS

What is an investigative report?

• An investigative report is a document that details the findings

(evidence) related to a formal complaint or allegation, such as a
workplace harassment complaint. These reports are often
commissioned immediately upon the receipt of a formal
complaint, and they are generally used to establish whether an
allegation is supported by the facts.
Elements of an investigative report

• Investigative reports can vary in size and scope depending on

the type of allegation or complexity of a particular case. Lesser
complaints of harassment that will result in basic disciplinary
actions by an HR department generally require fewer elements
than a larger, multi-faceted insurance fraud case destined for
the court system. All reports will include some form of the
following elements:
Elements of an investigative report
• Cover Page
• Generally, the very first element of an investigative report is the
cover page or case summary page. In the private investigative
context, this page should include a summary of all of the
relevant case information in a concise and scannable format.
Information that should appear on this page includes the case
number, date, location of the incident, all relevant contact
information, and any other relevant case reference information.
For employee cases commissioned by a business, this would
likely include things like the employee’s name, ID number, job
code, email address, and any other identifying employee
information required by the company.
 Elements of an investigative report
• Executive Summary
• The Executive Summary is the most important piece of an investigative report. It is also the
most read. It should provide a complete, yet concise, picture of the particular complaint or
allegation, the scope of the investigative activities, a summary of the findings, and a conclusion.
• This summary should answer all of the main questions that a person or organization will have
about a particular case, such as:
• What happened?
• Who was involved?

• Where did the incident occur?

• When did it occur?

• How was the investigation conducted?

• What did the investigation find?

• Does the evidence support the complaint or allegation?

• What course of action is recommended?

Elements of an investigative report
• Allegation Summary
• The allegation summary is the place where you will go into the
most detail about the specific complaint or allegation. It will
include all of the specific details about what happened, who
was involved, when it happened, what events led up to the
incident, who witnessed it, etc.
Elements of an investigative report
• Details of Investigation
• This section of the report is where most of your documentation
and detailed work will go in the report. Here you will carefully,
concisely, and completely summarize every aspect of your
investigation in an easy-to-follow, highly detailed, start-to-finish
way. You will detail every aspect of your investigation (often in
chronological order) and present key findings and evidence
along the way. In many ways, this section of the report will
function as a reference guide for each of the various summary
documents in the report and will present the evidence in detail
that led to your various conclusions or recommendations.
Elements of an investigative report
• Conclusion & Recommendations
• The conclusion is where you will wrap up your report with the
key evidence that led you to your particular conclusion and the
reasons why you believe the evidence either does or does not
support the particular allegation or complaint. You will also
provide any relevant assessments of an individual’s credibility,
evaluations of the plausibility of the incident, and any other
judgments that lead you to interpret the evidence the way that
you did.
TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 1. Information to Identify the Case
• Begin the report with case-specific information that identifies the
case the report is related to. Include information such as the
investigator’s name, case number, the date the case was
entered, and the date it was assigned to the investigator.
• 2. Referral Source
• The next section should include the complainant’s
information. The complainant’s work phone number, e-mail,
employee number, office location, department, and job title help
identify the person lodging the complaint.
•
TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 3. Allegation Details
• Harassment, discrimination, retaliation: what type of allegation is
under investigation?
• In this section, be sure to include as much detail as possible about
the initial complaint.
• Type of case
• Who the alleged victim is: may or may not be the same person as
the complainant
• How the complaint was received: hotline, face-to-face, web form, etc.
• Allegation details: what happened, where, when and any other
information provided in the initial complaint
TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 4. Information About the Subject
• The information required for this section of the report is similar to that
of the “Referral Source” section of the investigation report. However,
it’s the subject’s (the accused person’s) information being
documented this time. Include their name, e-mail, work phone
number, office location, department, and job title.
•
• 5. Investigation Scope/ Purpose
• Include a statement that describes the mission and objectives of the
investigation. Answer the question “what is the investigation trying to
prove?”
TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 6. Case Notes
• The case notes section should include an overview of the tasks assigned and action taken
throughout the investigation. Be sure to include a brief description of the task, steps taken to
complete it, who completed the task and when.
•
• 7. Interview Summaries
• List the investigation interviews that took place throughout the investigation. Make sure the list
is in chronological order, beginning with the first interview, ending with the last.
• Summary details are short and sweet, outlining:
• Name of the interviewer: also include the names of any other people who sat in on the interview
• Name of the person interviewed and their role in the investigation: complainant, subject, witness
• Interview location
• Date of interview
• In this section of the investigation report, there’s no need to go into detail about the events of
the investigation- that’s what the next section is for!
TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 8. Interview Reports
• Interview reports are brief summaries of each of the investigation interviews.
• In addition to the information in the above section, this part elaborates on the
investigation interview to include:
• Credibility Assessment– Certain factors will determine the credibility of an
interviewee’s statements. This section of the report should list any indicators
that contribute to the belief that the interviewee is or isn’t a credible source.
• Investigator Notes– Summarize the introduction, incident overview and
conclusion of each interview. In the introduction, outline the explanation of the
interviewer’s role in the investigation, the purpose for the interview, efforts to
maintain confidentiality and retaliation protections. The incident overview
section should include the interviewee’s description of events related to the
incident, whether or not they are aware of any witnesses, where/when the
incident occurred and any background information linking the involved parties.
Notes to be made about the interview conclusion should include thanking the
interviewee, reiteration of confidentiality concepts, review of statements made
and interviewee signing of investigator notes
 TOP 10 INVESTIGATION REPORTS MUST HAVES
• 9. List of Evidence
• As simple as it sounds; list the evidence collected during the investigation. For the sake of
the investigation report, include information such as:
• Type of evidence collected: interview, video, photo, audio tape, e-mail, etc.
• Name of person who presented the evidence, as well as their role in the investigation
• Date the evidence was collected
• Location of the evidence
•
• 10. Recommendations
• Conclude the report with recommendations. After reviewing all of the investigation
materials, what type of action should be taken? Does evidence support the violation of
workplace policies?
• Make sure recommendations are backed up by the consequences outlined in the company
code of conduct or other policies governing employee behaviour in the workplace. Include
a plan of action, identifying next steps in taking corrective action.
5 Tips for Writing a Successful Investigative Report
• 1. Be clear and concise
• The best way to convey your message is to avoid passive tense, jargon,
acronyms, big words, long-winded explanations, and anything else that can
clutter up your writing style. Write in a clear, easy-to-follow, straightforward style
with minimal digressions and verbal clutter. Simply state things as they are
without any frills.
• 2. Be detailed
• Your job in the reporting process is to be extremely detailed. This means that you
will consistently include names, dates, times, locations, specific quotes, and any
other relevant facts in the report. Don’t simply say, “John saw Ali carrying the
stolen files.” Rather, say something like, “John said he saw Ali leaving the west
building and walking to the parking lot at approximately 9:15 p.m. on Friday night.
She was carrying a large brown box with a white label on the side that said
Financials.”
• 3. Be thorough
• Double check your details and corroborate them with witnesses if possible.
Sometimes it’s easy to take certain facts for granted. Part of your job in being
accurate is to stress-test the various claims made during investigative
interviews and flesh out the reasons why a person feels certain about their
recollection of a particular detail or story.
5 Tips for Writing a Successful Investigative Report
• 4. Be inclusive of all evidence
• Never omit facts that do not fit the narrative. Your report must cover
everything, including the pesky facts that don’t seem to quite fit or
may not appear immediately relevant. If you knowingly omit
information or evidence from a report, it can result in serious
personal or legal consequences for others and can lead you to
develop a negative reputation within the investigative industry.
• 5. Be polished
• Your writing must be free of grammatical mistakes, syntax issues,
formatting issues, misspellings, and anything else that may call into
question the quality of your report. If you’re not the most
comfortable in this space, consider hiring a proofreader or editor to
assist you in the creation of the report.
How To Write An Investigation Report

• Step1: Start With What You Know

• The investigator should record the information about the
subject (respondent or accused person) and the details of the
complaint. Take note of specific descriptions such as times,
dates, and locations to further clarify the issues of the matter.
• Example: Alicia Bates alleges that Clark Nichols, a payroll clerk, has
been falsifying his timesheet. Alicia says that she noticed a
discrepancy when she reviewed the timesheets in preparation for the
January 2019 payroll. On February 4, Alicia required Clark to explain in
writing said discrepancies and saw that it did not align with the hours
that he reported.
How To Write An Investigation Report
• Step 2: Make Sense of What You Have
• Evidence analysis can substantiate claims from either party. The
investigator should gather physical evidence such as footage, email
records, documents or papers, physical objects, etc. and document
investigative interviews. These should then be analyzed to identify
the relevant facts, assess the credibility of disputed facts, and
dismiss irrelevant facts.
• Example: CCTV footage shows that Clark was not in the office during the
times he reported in his timesheet. I interviewed Clark on February 11, and
he denied the allegations. He said that he would start as early as 4 AM
sometimes and go to a local fast food chain for breakfast by 8 AM, which
he argued explained his absence. Clark sought the assistance of a fellow
payroll clerk, Alfred Mariano, to cover up his conduct. I interviewed Alfred
on February 12, and he said that he usually sees Clark in the office after
their lunch break.
How To Write An Investigation Report
• Step 3: Formulate a Conclusion
• State the conclusion reached based on the facts and supporting
evidence. At the end of the report, the investigator should
indicate whether the matter is substantiated, unsubstantiated,
or inconclusive.
• Example: There is clear evidence to prove that the subject falsified his
timesheet, a violation of the Company Code of Conduct Section 3.
Therefore, the complaint is substantiated.