Independent investigations into bullying, harassment, discrimination and misconduct for small organizations and nonprofits in British Columbia, including complaints where disability, mental health or neurodiversity is part of the picture.
Retained by employers, boards and legal counsel when there is no HR team, or no one independent enough, to handle a complaint.
WorkSafeBC policy P2-21-2, Employer Duties: Workplace Bullying and Harassment requires employers to develop and implement procedures for dealing with incidents and complaints, including how and when investigations will be conducted, what an investigation will include, and the roles of the people involved.
The same policy requires a way for workers to report when the employer or supervisor is the person named. In a small organization, that alternative route is often the gap, and it is the point at which an independent investigator is usually called.
Complaints that engage a protected ground, including physical or mental disability, also fall under the BC Human Rights Code.
Most complaints in British Columbia do not need one. These are the situations where an internal process is compromised before it starts.
An owner, executive director or senior manager. When the person named sits above everyone who could investigate, the complaint goes to the board or to an outsider.
In a small organization, HR is often one person who works closely with both parties, or there is no HR at all.
A party is on leave, is neurodivergent, or links the conduct to a condition. The process has to be adjusted and the adjustments documented.
A regulator, a human rights tribunal, an arbitrator or a court may read the file. The process needs to hold up to that reader.
Where it is not yet clear a full investigation is needed, the Preliminary Review and Assessment sets out the allegations, assesses them against the regulatory frameworks in British Columbia, and recommends whether to proceed. It is a fixed fee of $2,950 and involves no interviews.
Where the decision has already been made, a full investigation runs from terms of reference to a written report. How an investigation runs, and what it costs →
Interviews in Metro Vancouver can be in person with no travel charge. Elsewhere in BC they are held by secure video, and in-person work outside Metro Vancouver can be arranged.
Yes. Counsel can retain me directly so the investigation is conducted under privilege, with the report delivered to counsel. More for counsel.
Investigations are billed at $325 per hour against a written estimate, with a reduced rate for registered non-profits and charities. The Preliminary Review and Assessment is a fixed fee of $2,950.