Workplace Investigation Training Course | In-Person or Online, Open or In-House
Workplace investigation training for HR, legal and compliance teams
A poorly run investigation is one of the most expensive mistakes an organisation can make. In the 50 employment tribunal and EAT cases I analysed for my book, flawed investigations produced awards from £53,400 (Barbrook v New City College) through to a £1.4 million settlement (Gilby v Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust). The visible failures are usually the same: witnesses who should have been interviewed are not, evidence contradicting the conclusion is ignored, allegations are framed badly, credibility assessments rely on impression rather than reasoning, and the appeal does not really examine what happened.
This workplace investigation training course is designed to fix the underlying problem before it shows up at tribunal. Over a single day, I take HR teams, legal teams, compliance officers and line managers through the full investigation process, from receiving the complaint through to writing a report that will survive scrutiny. The course is fully compliant with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures and is built around the framework in my 578 page book, The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook, which every delegate receives.
Four ways to book
Format comparison at a glance
Format | Best for | Price | Delegates |
In-house, in-person | Whole-team training, one organisation, your premises | £4,995 + VAT (fixed) | Up to 15 included |
In-house, online | Distributed teams, one organisation, single licence fee | £3,995 + VAT (fixed) | Up to 15 included |
Open course, in-person (London or Birmingham) | Solo HR, small teams, or 2 to 3 people from one organisation | £795 + VAT per delegate (early bird £695, inaugural cohorts £595) | Capped at 16 per cohort |
Open course, live online | Individuals anywhere in the UK, smallest commitment | £445 + VAT per delegate (early bird £395) | Capped at 16 per cohort |
Format 1: In-house, in-person at your premises
A full day course delivered at your offices, anywhere in mainland UK. The whole team trains together using your own policies, your own templates, and (if helpful) anonymised examples drawn from cases your organisation has handled.
£4,995 + VAT for up to 15 delegates, fixed fee regardless of group size up to that cap. Each delegate receives a copy of the book. Travel within mainland UK is included. Additional delegates above 15 are charged at £75 + VAT each.
This is the right choice when an organisation wants to build a consistent internal investigation capability and the same framework applied across the team.
Book the in-house in-person course or request a tailored quote.
Format 2: In-house, live online
The same content as the in-person course, delivered via video conference, split across two half day sessions on consecutive days. Splitting the day reduces screen fatigue and improves retention without losing any of the syllabus. This format works well for distributed teams or where bringing everyone into one room is impractical.
£3,995 + VAT for up to 15 delegates. Each delegate receives a copy of the book, posted to an address of their choice. Additional delegates above 15 charged at £75 + VAT each.
Book the in-house online course or request a quote.
Format 3: Open access workplace investigation training in London or Birmingham
A scheduled public course held at a central London or central Birmingham training venue, open to delegates from any organisation. This is the option for solo HR practitioners, smaller organisations, in-house counsel who would not justify a whole-team in-house day, or someone whose organisation only needs to train one or two people.
Pricing per delegate:
- Standard rate: £795 + VAT
- Early bird (book 6 or more weeks before the course date): £695 + VAT
- Inaugural cohort rate (for the first London and first Birmingham courses only, capped at the first 8 bookings each): £595 + VAT
- Groups of 3 or more delegates from the same organisation: further 10% discount
The price includes the full day of training, lunch, refreshments throughout the day, a copy of The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook, the full course pack of templates and checklists, a certificate of attendance, and 30 days of email follow up support.
Upcoming dates:
Date | City | Venue | Early bird deadline |
TBC | London | Central London | TBC |
TBC | Birmingham | Central Birmingham | TBC
|
TBC | London | Central London | TBC |
TBC | Birmingham | Central Birmingham | TBC |
Cohorts are capped at 16 delegates to preserve the discussion-led format.
Book a place on the open access course or register interest in future dates.
Format 4: Open access workplace investigation training, live online
The same content as the in-person open access course, delivered live online and open to delegates from any organisation. Split across two half day sessions on consecutive days. This is the most accessible format: smallest commitment, no travel, no time out of office for a full day.
Pricing per delegate:
- Standard rate: £445 + VAT
- Early bird (book 6 or more weeks before the course date): £395 + VAT
- Groups of 3 or more delegates from the same organisation: further 10% discount
The price includes the live training, course pack of templates and checklists, a copy of The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook posted to your address, a certificate of attendance, and 30 days of email follow up support. Recordings of both sessions are made available to delegates for 30 days for personal review.
Upcoming dates:
Date | Format | Early bird deadline |
TBC | Live online via Zoom | TBC |
| TBC
| Live online via Zoom | TBC |
Cohorts capped at 16 delegates. Book a place on the live online course.
Current offer for in-house bookings
In-house bookings (Formats 1 and 2) confirmed before the end of May 2026 for delivery in August 2026 attract a 25% discount.
Course agenda (in-person formats)
The day runs from 9:00 to 17:00 with a 45 minute lunch and two short breaks. Online formats follow the same structure split across two consecutive half days.
Time | Session |
9:00 to 9:15 | Welcome, introductions, course objectives |
9:15 to 10:45 | Session 1: Foundations. Purpose of an investigation. Who an investigation is for. The financial, reputational and tribunal risks of getting it wrong. Legal and procedural foundations: natural justice, the ACAS Code, the duty to undertake a reasonable investigation, burden and standard of proof. |
10:45 to 11:00 | Morning break |
11:00 to 13:00 | Session 2: Setting up the investigation. Drafting clear, neutral allegations. Choosing the investigator: conflicts of interest, perceived bias, required skills. Setting scope and drafting terms of reference. Project planning. Evidence principles: relevance, weight, reliability, hearsay, contemporaneous evidence. Preparing for interviews: questions, witness selection, ordering, environment. |
13:00 to 13:45 | Lunch |
13:45 to 15:30 | Session 3: Interviews and evidence evaluation. Engage and Explain opening. Interviewing witnesses and the subject. Building rapport while maintaining independence. Handling reluctant or hostile witnesses. Documentary and non-witness evidence, including OSINT. Using the SEARCH framework to evaluate evidence objectively. Assessing credibility and reliability. Recognising and managing unconscious bias. Handling dishonest or unreliable evidence. Adverse inferences. |
15:30 to 15:45 | Afternoon break |
15:45 to 17:00 | Session 4: Conclusions, reports, and what comes next. Drawing conclusions and documenting reasoning. Writing a tribunal-defensible investigation report. Specialist contexts: senior leaders, sexual misconduct, vulnerable witnesses, bullying and harassment, fraud, regulated sectors. Lessons learned and organisational learning. When to refer to police or regulators. Q&A and close. |
The day is structured around a single running case study, the Meadowbrook Care Home scenario from the book, so participants apply each element to the same evolving facts. For in-house formats, the case study can be adjusted to your sector.
ACAS Code compliance and tribunal defensibility
This course is built on the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures and the Burchell test that tribunals apply when assessing whether an investigation was reasonable. Every section of the syllabus is mapped to the legal standards an investigation will be measured against if challenged. Participants leave with a clear understanding of what makes a report defensible and what makes it vulnerable, drawn directly from the 50 tribunal judgments analysed in the book.
Why this workplace investigation training is different
Most workplace investigation training in the UK is delivered by HR consultants or former investigators with HR or police backgrounds. They are good at what they do. But they are not the people who decide whether an investigation report stands up.
I am a practising barrister, an accredited workplace investigator, and a fee paid judge. I have conducted investigations involving up to 68 allegations and evidence bundles exceeding 1,000 pages. Every one of my investigation reports is quality assured by a Crown Court Judge before delivery. I have interviewed thousands of witnesses and assessed their credibility professionally as a judge. I know how reports are scrutinised at tribunal because I have seen it happen, and because I have written the reports that survive it.
That experience is what the training delivers. Participants do not leave with a generic process. They leave with the specific reasoning skills, evidential discipline and report writing standards that hold up under legal challenge.
What past clients say
“I would like to sincerely thank you for carrying out this investigation. Notably your diligence in thoroughly analysing and interrogating all the allegations, the very high quality of the investigation report and the overall investigative process. It is worlds apart from a previous investigation I had a different external consultant carry out earlier in the year.”
HR Director, International Healthcare Organisation
“The sessions were absolutely what I was hoping for, so much discussion and interaction which is really valuable.”
Head of Operational Delivery, large national professional regulator (panellist training event)
“Clear, focused and patient as a fact-finder dealing with a wide range of evidence. I feel the participants trusted that you were fair and open. It was a masterclass in advocacy and I learned so much.”
Annie Conboy
Who this workplace investigation training is for
The training works well for HR directors and HR managers responsible for commissioning and overseeing workplace investigations; internal investigators conducting investigations on behalf of their organisation; line managers who are sometimes asked to chair fact finding exercises; employee relations specialists; in house legal counsel; governance and compliance teams; and union representatives who need to understand how a sound investigation is constructed.
It is suitable for participants with no previous investigation experience as well as for experienced practitioners who want to sharpen their reasoning, credibility assessment and report writing.
What every delegate receives
Every delegate, in every format, receives a copy of The Workplace and Corporate Investigator’s Handbook. At 578 pages, it is the most comprehensive practitioner guide currently available in the UK. It includes the full syllabus of the course, dozens of anonymised real cases from my own practice, worked examples, templates for terms of reference and non disclosure agreements, a worked example of a terrible investigation report (with annotations explaining why it would fail), and an appendix analysing 50 employment tribunal cases where investigations have been criticised.
In addition to the book, delegates receive a course pack with templates and checklists they can use the next working day, a certificate of attendance, and 30 days of email follow up support for any investigation questions arising from the training.
How much does workplace investigation training cost?
Workplace investigation training in the UK is typically priced one of two ways. Open access courses charge per delegate, ranging from £255 (Acas, online) to £1,095 + VAT (TCM Advanced, 3 day, accredited). My open access courses sit at £795 + VAT in person and £445 + VAT online, between the entry level and the established premium providers, with the trainer pedigree of the top end of the market.
In-house delivery is usually priced per session and falls between £1,500 and £6,000 + VAT per day depending on the seniority of the trainer. My in-house pricing is £4,995 + VAT in person and £3,995 + VAT online, covering up to 15 delegates. At a full cohort that works out at £333 per head in person and £266 per head online, well below all of the open access rates in the market.
For comparison, the typical cost of defending an unfair dismissal claim at tribunal is now around £20,000 in legal fees alone, before any award is taken into account. Training a team of 15 to investigate properly costs less than a quarter of that.
Frequently asked questions
Is this workplace investigation training CPD accredited?
The course is CPD eligible and counts towards the annual CPD requirements of solicitors, barristers, paralegals, CIPD members and most professional HR and compliance qualifications. Certificates of attendance are issued to all participants.
Why a fixed fee for in-house but per delegate for open access?
The cost of getting an investigation wrong does not change based on how many people are in the room. For in-house delivery, the fixed fee lets an organisation train its whole team without rationing. For open access, the per delegate model fits the buying pattern of individuals and small organisations buying a place for one or two people.
Can the open access courses be tailored to my sector?
The open access courses run a standard syllabus broad enough to cover most sectors, with the Meadowbrook Care Home case study as the running thread. Sector-specific examples are woven in during the day in response to delegate questions. For a course built around your sector from the ground up, an in-house booking is the better choice.
Can the training cover hearings as well as investigations?
The standard course focuses on investigations only, because doing the day justice requires a tight scope. If you also need to train your team on chairing grievance, disciplinary and appeal hearings, I offer that as a separate one day course or as a combined two day programme at a discounted fixed fee for in-house bookings.
What time does the course start and finish?
In-person formats run from 9:00 to 17:00 with a 45 minute lunch at 13:00 and two 15 minute breaks. Online formats deliver the same content across two half day sessions on consecutive days, each running 9:00 to 12:30, with the same overall content time.
How quickly can you deliver in-house training?
Subject to diary, within four to six weeks for in person, and within two to three weeks for online. For urgent situations where a particular investigation is imminent, delivery can usually be brought forward.
What is the cancellation and transfer policy for open access courses?
Full refund for cancellations made 30 or more days before the course date. 50% refund for cancellations between 14 and 29 days before. No refund within 14 days, but the booking can be transferred at no charge to a colleague at any time, or transferred to a future course date up to 48 hours before delivery.
What if a course does not reach the minimum number of delegates?
Open access courses run with a minimum of 6 confirmed delegates. If a course does not reach the minimum 14 days before the date, registered delegates will be offered a full refund or a transfer to the next available date. In-house bookings are not affected.
Do you deliver training outside mainland UK?
Yes. Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and overseas delivery is by arrangement, with travel and accommodation at cost.
Take the next step
If you would like to talk through how this workplace investigation training would work for you or your team, or to confirm a date, get in touch.
Call 020 4538 0246, email robin@robinsomerville.co.uk, request a quote for workplace investigation training, or book a discovery call directly.
Related services
If your immediate need is a single investigation rather than training, I take on independent external workplace investigations for complex and sensitive matters. For organisations needing an external chair for a hearing, see my grievance and disciplinary chair service. For disputes that would be better resolved without a formal process, I also offer workplace and employment mediation.