One question we hear a lot, as a company providing third-party investigations, is a simple one: What is the benefit of hiring an outside investigator? Monica Tesler, Esq., Workplace Investigator and Legal Counsel for HR Solutions At Work, shares her perspective.
Workplace investigations are frequently handled effectively in house, but often there are good reasons to go to an outside, independent firm. For example, outsourcing an investigation can reduce actual or perceived bias and convey to employees that the workplace issues are taken seriously. If an investigation involves executives or board members, hiring an outside firm adds objectivity and impartiality to the process.
When the company’s own lawyer does the investigation, they may become a fact witness. If litigation is likely, using an independent investigator can preserve the attorney-client privilege and add weight to the investigation itself. Additionally, the legal and human resources departments at a leanly staffed company might not always have the bandwidth to conduct a thorough investigation.
Though I conducted workplace investigations for years before joining HR Solutions At Work, both in private practice and as in-house counsel, all of my investigation experience came through the lens of advocacy, and much of it came as an insider. As I close out my first year at HR Solutions At Work, I have a deeper understanding of the reasons to hire a neutral, outside investigator.
This may seem like an obvious point, but an outside investigator has a better ability to be objective in an investigation. My guess at the story — the truth, if you will — during an initial client intake meeting almost always turns out to be wrong, or at least not quite right. Before I commence an investigation, I make a point to step back and make sure I’m starting with a clean slate. As the facts unfold through employee interviews and the review of documents, that distance allows me to analyze the evidence with a neutral eye.
This has illustrated to me the power and insidiousness of preconceived notions. Even without knowing the players involved, I can unconsciously craft a story in my head of what happened from a preliminary meeting — which I know better than to indulge. Imagine, then, the temptation to rely on those narratives when they feature coworkers with whom you have been working for years. You may not even recognize it as a temptation so much as take it for granted as a fact, even if it is not. This bias is hard to erase, despite best efforts.
Hiring an outside investigator ensures a level of objectivity that is rarely achievable from an insider. You just can’t get the same view of a situation from directly in front of it as you can from a hundred yards away.
When you hire an outside investigator, one of the things you are investing in is judgment. Experienced investigators bring their judgment to bear when conducting employee interviews, reviewing documents, and deciding which facts should be considered in conducting an investigation within the engaged scope. A lot of things can be true without being relevant, and it takes an experienced eye to be able to discern between the two. An unnecessarily broad investigation can waste time and money and runs the risk of misdirecting the focus.
An experienced third-party investigator brings a judicious eye to fact finding that may not be available through in-house resources or even an outside law firm.
When I worked as an in-house counsel overseeing my company’s human resources department, managing the results of an investigation was one of the hardest parts of my job. I had to work with leadership to make decisions about terminating an employee and handle employee relations in the aftermath.
As an outside investigator, I roll up my sleeves and hit the ground running when engaged to conduct an investigation, but once I have delivered the findings, my exit is just as fast. In other words, I am not in the picture for difficult conversations with employees after the conclusion of an investigation, which also means that I am unencumbered by the weight of potentially difficult business decisions, further enhancing the objectivity of my findings.
So, to answer the original question: What are the benefits of hiring a third-party investigator? When you hire an outside investigator, what you’re getting is true objectivity from the hundred-yard line; years of experience leading to more-informed judgment calls; and an unencumbered third party who understands the stakes of an investigation without feeling the weight of those stakes personally.
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
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We recently polled people in our Wondering Wednesday series on LinkedIn to learn more about employees’ preferences regarding company-sponsored learning. Company-sponsored training and development can take many forms, from mandatory annual harassment refresher courses to workshops, online courses, and even mentorship opportunities. Mandatory training doesn’t always have the best reputation, but it’s important and, in some circumstances, may be legally required. In addition to mandatory training, companies should consider sponsoring additional training and development opportunities that help employees perform their jobs effectively and advance their careers. Investing in employee development can also increase employee engagement, retention, and job satisfaction – all worthy goals for organizations of any size.
We asked what format employees find to be the best use of their time for company-sponsored learning, and Lunch and Learns were the clear winner, with 64% of respondents choosing Lunch and Learns over options like one-day workshops and webinars. Lunch and Learns are training sessions typically offered by companies as an opportunity for employees to build professional skills.
When it comes to in-person Lunch and Learns, it’s not just the free lunch that draws employees in (though, let’s be honest, that definitely helps with attendance). Because they’re held during the lunch hour, Lunch and Learns don’t detract from employees’ productive time and allows them to have some casual interaction with colleagues.
Respondents overwhelmingly found People Management 101 to be the most “surprisingly helpful” required workplace training. This makes sense when you think about it: Anyone promoted to a managerial position for the first time is going to learn a lot from a people-management training, even an intro-level course, because they’ll be going into it with little or no prior experience managing direct reports. This kind of training can heavily affect a new manager’s day-to-day interactions with the people they manage, as well as prepare them for giving performance reviews and difficult feedback. This is an important training that employers should consider offering all new managers; effective managers are better communicators and collaborators, and they can influence everything from employee job performance to retention rates.
In response to our question about the “most meaningful support” employers could give to employee learning, respondents were split between paid tuition of online courses and conference attendance. Online courses can have a long-term impact on a person’s career, offering professional certifications or full degrees, and they allow for greater flexibility than in-person courses, typically allowing people to learn at their own pace from wherever they like. An almost equal number of respondents said that the most meaningful support would come through conference attendance. Conferences tend to be more focused in subject matter immediately relevant to the participant’s job or industry. An added benefit of going to a conference is the opportunity to network and interact with peers, industry experts, and thought leaders.
The split between answers may come down to the stage of your career and what role and industry you’re in. For example, a recent college graduate just starting a career in software engineering may benefit from tuition reimbursement for an online certification course in a new programming language. A scientist, on the other hand, may find more value in attending a conference where they can present their own achievements, network with peers doing similar work, learn about the latest technologies they can apply to their research, and so on.
Despite the recent trend to leverage online and virtual technology, employers may be surprised to learn that respondents found live, in-person training to be the most effective format.
Many companies have heavily leveraged click-through online courses for speed and digital tracking purposes, as well as ease of administration and cost savings. In-person training, however, allows participants to focus, pay closer attention and engage with the facilitators and learning environment. In addition, many people get screen fatigue with online learning or may be tempted to multi-task during a virtual or click-through course.
Given that employees prefer in-person training, companies may want to consider this for onsite workers; if you take employee preferences into account, you are likely to have better engagement and more effective use of employees’ time.
To participate in the conversation, see the results for yourself, or learn about our interactive training offerings, email info@hrsolutionsatwork.com, or head over to the HR Solutions At Work LinkedIn page, where we post a new poll every Wednesday!
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
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It can be challenging to understand all the nuances of MA PFML, particularly within the context of the myriad other laws and employer policies that provide paid and unpaid leaves of absence (see our recent blog post about MA PFML for a basic overview of the topic). Last week, HR Solutions At Work hosted a free webinar that provided business leaders and leave administrators with the knowledge and tools necessary to manage MA PFML requests.
Judy Kalisker, Esq., and Kristen Shames led the webinar, which provided an overview of MA PFML eligibility requirements, employer responsibilities, current regulations, how to effectively manage this benefit for your employees, and more.
It can be hard to “read the room” in a non-interactive webinar, so we were thrilled when one attendee posted on LinkedIn about her experience, saying:
What an amazing webinar on Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)! I’ve gained valuable insights on how to better manage leave for our employees in Massachusetts[…] I'm excited to share these key takeaways with my leadership team so we can better support our employees while staying compliant. Feeling informed and empowered—thank you!
Our team members at HR Solutions At Work have years of experience hosting webinars, leading interactive trainings, presenting at conferences, and teaching at universities. We love what we do, and we had so much fun hosting this webinar! Follow us on LinkedIn to be the first to know about upcoming webinars and appearances.
If you missed the webinar and are interested in learning more about MA PFML, or having one of our HR or legal professionals speak with your team about MA PFML, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We can host a training session for your organization or industry group, provide legal advice on specific situations, or even serve as your fully outsourced PFML administrator so you can focus on other business priorities.
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
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To kick off our "Spotlight On" series, Jennifer London, our Content Marketing Manager, recently sat down with Lynn Prust, Senior Workplace Investigator and Investigation Manager, to chat about Lynn’s unique background.
I knew I wanted to do an employee spotlight on Lynn Prust from the day I met her. Like many of our staff members, Lynn’s background includes an impressive breadth of experience and list of accomplishments. Lynn has over three decades of experience in HR and employee relations across industries such as healthcare, retail management, and medical device manufacturing. Prior to joining the HRSAW team, Lynn was the Director of Employee Relations for Boston Scientific Corporation, where she managed a global employee relations team for almost ten years. The moment you talk to her, you realize that her professional accomplishments are the result of her innate ability to make connections with people; simply put, she is one of the kindest, most patient, and deeply caring people you may ever have the pleasure of working with.
Is she amazing at her job? A leader in her field? Widely respected? Yes, yes, and yes. But a lot of people can answer yes to all of those questions and not stand out from the crowd.
Lynn can.
Lynn’s passion for making an impact led to her starting her career as HR Generalist and growing professionally to HR Manager, Employee Relations Manager, and Director of Employee Relations – and all the while, it was never about the role she held or the goal of being a high-powered executive; it was about the connections she made along the way.
As an example, Lynn told me about a time she visited a job site as part of a workplace investigation. Here she was, showing up to investigate a serious allegation, which might normally make employees clam up around her — but instead of wary looks and half-hearted nods, she was greeted with smiles and exclamations of how glad the employees were to see her. That’s not to say that Lynn is a softie; she’s a keen judge of character and has an incredible ability to look objectively at a situation to suss out what’s relevant to the case she’s investigating. Rather, she has developed a reputation for being fair, for not merely listening to what people have to say but for actually making people feel heard as well.
People ask me, why do you enjoy working in employee relations? The reason I enjoy it is because usually someone has a concern about something, and you're helping sort through that issue. You're investigating, but you're also helping to put something in place to help both parties through the situation. And so it [is] just very rewarding. I’ve had cases where people would say to me, “Thank you for listening. No one has listened to me.” And that's where, you know, it wasn't just investigating something. It was taking it another step after that.
As the eldest of four children, a tried-and-true Midwesterner who is the epitome of “Minnesota nice,” Lynn’s desire to help people was ingrained in her practically since birth. Lynn’s cousin Cindy, who worked in HR, inspired a young Lynn to find a career where she could make a difference in people’s lives. Maybe it’s as simple as being captain of varsity soccer in high school, seeing firsthand how a good leader can unify their team, play to each person’s strengths, and motivate their teammates to perform at their best. Whatever her guiding motivation, this passion for making an impact has guided the course of Lynn’s career.
In addition to conducting workplace investigations, throughout her career Lynn has helped employers develop accommodations for employees with disabilities. Lynn became sensitive to the challenges faced by people with disabilities in the workplace after watching her parents and other family members suffer from health issues from a young age, and she continues to advocate for people with disabilities and educate other HR professionals regarding disability accommodations. In her role at Boston Scientific, Lynn partnered with two organizations, Disability:In and the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), researching and then sharing best practices for accommodating employees with disabilities. As part of this work, she presented at conferences, led training sessions for HR business partners and leadership teams on disability inclusion and equality, and paved the way for new processes companies could use to handle accommodations and accommodation requests.
Lynn is softspoken, considers her words carefully before she speaks, and rarely interrupts when someone else is speaking. And yet, when Lynn speaks, everyone in the room stops to listen to her insights. She is a leader without even meaning to be; in fact, she insists that her career path is the result of having been fortunate to have wonderful teammates working together toward the same goal. Everything she does, she does with compassion, always taking the time to consider all perspectives, give the benefit of the doubt, and — above all — to keep her eyes on the prize.
What is that prize? Making a difference. Leaving the world a better place than she found it.
I don't feel like I have to be out in the spotlight. [It’s about] wanting to make an impact versus having to be out there in front — it doesn't matter what role I’m doing as long as I’m making a difference.
I wrapped up our interview with a question: What does Lynn think is the most important skill for a workplace investigator to have?
By now, her answer shouldn’t surprise you:
Being able to listen. No, wait: taking the time to listen. There is nothing more important.
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
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This month marks the fifth anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic. HR Solutions At Work Founder, Judy Kalisker, shares her memories of the week Massachusetts “shut down,” as well as how the pandemic changed the workplace, both generally and at HRSAW.
Five years ago today, everyone in Massachusetts who was not providing essential services was told to stay home and “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 cases. For me, the week leading up to the promised shutdown was hectic as I scurried to finish interviews for three investigations in the far corners of Massachusetts and also led investigation-skills training for 35 people in a small conference room where we all wondered what risks we were taking being in such a confined space. Each day I was in Western Mass, Cambridge, the North Shore, or the South Coast; sometimes I even visited two locations per day.
From a work perspective, the promised “two weeks” of shutdown were eerily quiet. Clients and colleagues stayed in touch, mostly to speculate on whether the shutdown would really be two weeks, or more like two months, six months, or more. Knowing I would have to get back to work in some way, I started to research virtual meeting capabilities. Then, around two months post-shutdown, clients started asking if we could do investigation interviews “virtually” rather than waiting for permission to work in person again.
My immediate answer was, “Of course we can!” Over the next few weeks, we adapted to doing everything remotely so we could get back to work, which meant moving my investigation interviews, client meetings, trainings, etc., to video conferences. Nowadays, I can’t imagine driving all over the state to do investigation interviews when I can have meetings in every time zone all in the same day!
There’s no question that the pandemic took a horrific toll on the entire world. In addition to more than seven million confirmed COVID-related deaths worldwide, hundreds of millions more people were extremely ill, and it is estimated that more than 400 million people suffer from long COVID. In the United States, there is a labor shortage resulting from many pandemic-related reasons, such as lingering illness from long COVID, preference for at-home work, and fear of virus exposure in customer-contact jobs. I see the effects of this labor shortage every day, from delayed deliveries to months-long waiting lists for medical procedures.
In the midst of such upheaval, I find it helpful to focus on some of the work-life improvements that emerged from this global pandemic experience — not to minimize or forget the tragic aspects of the pandemic, but to be grateful for what we learned and how we adapted.
For me personally, remote work eliminated driving time to clients’ offices and led to more family time at home; I was able to leverage technology (Zoom, Teams, Meet, etc.) not only for work but also for personal get-togethers with friends I had not spoken with in years; I attended a wedding across the country without flying, jet lag, or hotels; and I discovered a renewed commitment to wellness, with a daily workout over Zoom becoming an essential part of both my physical health and my stress relief.
The improvements to the workplace are not only technological. One of the most positive changes I have noticed is the increased patience that work colleagues have for each other’s non-work commitments. The doorbell rings while you’re in a Zoom meeting? No worries, let’s go on mute for a few minutes while you take care of it. You tested positive for the flu or COVID and have to take a week off? Not a problem, go take care of yourself, the work will wait. You forgot to blur the background and your spouse just photo-bombed your Teams meeting? Hang on, let’s meet your spouse! Things that might have occurred on the other side of the “work wall” started happening, in real time, in the virtual office, and we learned to toggle from personal to work in our home space.
One thing we are missing, however, is the natural camaraderie that results when people share space in a physical office. Employees who started work during the pandemic often feel like they don’t know their coworkers as well as the coworkers who know each other from pre-pandemic times. When attending in-person meetings, some people arrive early and have a natural opportunity to chat before the meeting starts, allowing people to develop relationships and friendships with colleagues. This, of course, is much harder to do when working and meeting remotely.
HR Solutions At Work has been a 100% remote company since we started in 2013, and I believe that flexibility helps attract and retain top talent. But I also believe in the importance of a strong company culture, which you can’t have if your employees feel disconnected from one another.
To that end, we have established some practices at HRSAW to emulate the in-person office experience for our team members. If you also have employees who are remote some days or every day, I hope that sharing these initiatives will spur your own ideas to maintain employee engagement in a remote workplace.
Our practices include:
We would love to hear how your organization engages remote and hybrid employees! Please shoot us an email or message us on LinkedIn to share your ideas and comments.
If you’d like to reminisce with me, I’d also love to hear your own post-COVID reflections. Thank you for reading and for being part of our ongoing pre- and post-pandemic journey.
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
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It can be hard to remember all the differences (both small and large) between the different leave of absence programs, let alone what’s paid, unpaid, state, federal, employer-provided, etc. But it is important that anyone responsible for managing employee leaves of absence understands the basics of these programs and how to apply them to their organization.
In this post and our FREE webinar on March 20, 2025 we are going to provide a basic understanding of Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML) within the context of the myriad other laws that provide paid and unpaid leaves of absence.
The first thing to know is that laws covering leaves of absence generally apply when an employee needs time off (in blocks of days or weeks, or even intermittently a few hours at a time) in any of the following four types of situations:
There are some nuances to these four categories, but for the purposes of understanding MA PFML, these are the ones we will focus on.
The next thing to know is that the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Massachusetts Parental Leave law (which is distinct from MA PFML) both give employees the right to take job-protected time off for one or all of these situations but do not require that the employee be paid.
Overlaying all of these laws are various programs that allow employees to be paid during some or all of these job-protected leaves; for example, many employers provide paid parental leave or paid short-term disability leave that employees can use during some of the otherwise-unpaid leaves. In addition, many employees have accrued sick or vacation time for otherwise-unpaid leave time. And, in Massachusetts and about a dozen other states (the list keeps growing), we have a state fund for paid leave, typically called “PFML” (which stands for “Paid Family and Medical Leave”).
Under the PFML program in Massachusetts, employers are required to contribute a percentage of total employee payroll to a central fund, to which employees can apply for benefits if they need time off of work due to one of the covered conditions. These laws started to pop up within the last ten years; in Massachusetts, the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) started collecting money for the PFML fund in 2019, and employees started applying for leaves of absence in 2021.
Unlike the federal FMLA, which is applicable only to employers with at least 50 employees and guarantees only unpaid leave, MA PFML offers the opportunity to apply for paid leave for every employee who works for a private employer in Massachusetts, regardless of the size of their workforce.
What this means is that, within Massachusetts:
PFML is a benefit for which any employee working in Massachusetts, even remotely for an out-of-state employer, may apply if they cannot work for one of the covered reasons listed above. Whether an employee is eligible for leave is up to the DFML, and employees have to submit an application and appropriate certification (e.g., medical documentation or birth/adoption certificate) directly to DFML.
All the employer has to do is answer a few employment verification questions from DFML and allow employees who collect PFML benefits to return to work when they can.
The amount of the contribution (and the weekly benefit) is set by DFML and can change every year. DFML publishes the rates before each calendar year, and payroll companies reprogram the contribution rates each year. The payments to the MA PFML fund are submitted with the employer’s quarterly payroll taxes. The DFML allows employers to recover some or all of the contribution from employee pay, depending on the employer size.
In addition, employers are required to post the annual notice of the contribution amounts and employee rights under MA PFML.
There are many more details about MA PFML than we can cover in one blog post. That’s why we are offering a FREE MA PFML webinar on March 20, 2025. Register now to reserve your spot — we hope to see you then!
If you are unable to attend and still have questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us; we can host a training session for your organization or industry group, provide legal advice, or even serve as your fully outsourced PFML administrator so you can focus on other business priorities.
Because every situation presents unique facts, the information provided in this article is for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states. Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites. Please contact us if you have any questions about this information or our services.
...Because every situation presents unique facts, the information on this website and its blog is provided for general information and is not intended to be legal advice regarding any specific situation. This information may be considered advertising in some states.
Any links to third-party sites are for your convenience. HR Solutions At Work does not endorse specific sites or guarantee the accuracy of the information on those sites.
Please contact us if you have any questions about this site or our services.