When a third-party complaint lands in your inbox… How to react?

What should you do when a customer, member of the public or even an employee’s neighbour contacts your business to complain about one of your employees?

A recent client situation highlighted an issue that many employers may not have considered. An employee was involved in an ongoing dispute with a neighbour. The disagreement was entirely personal and had absolutely nothing to do with their employment. However, during the course of that dispute, the employee used their work email address to send correspondence.

The neighbour subsequently contacted the employer to complain about the employee’s conduct. Suddenly, the employer was being drawn into a dispute that had nothing to do with the workplace.

Receiving a complaint about an employee does not automatically make the underlying issue an employment matter. Employees have private lives and employers are not there to investigate personal disagreements simply because one of the parties decides to contact the workplace. The first question should therefore be, what, if anything, does this have to do with the business?

In this example, the employer did not need to determine who was right or wrong in the neighbour dispute. It did not need to investigate the history between the individuals or attempt to resolve their disagreement.

The potential workplace issue was much narrower, why had a business email address been used for correspondence relating to a personal dispute, and was that appropriate under the organisation’s policies?

That distinction is important.

Conduct outside work can sometimes become an employment matter, but there should be a genuine connection with the employment or an identifiable impact on the business. A complaint arriving in your inbox does not create that connection by itself.

Employers should also avoid immediately accepting the third party’s version of events.

People contact employers for many different reasons and, particularly where there is an ongoing personal dispute, the information provided may represent only one side of the story. A sensible first step is to establish exactly what has been alleged and whether any part of it genuinely concerns the business.

Where there is a potential employment issue, the employee should be given an opportunity to explain what happened before any conclusions are reached. That doesn’t necessarily mean immediately starting a formal disciplinary process either. Depending on the circumstances, an informal conversation may be entirely appropriate. There is another important consideration for employers in situations like this.

Once a third party has contacted the business, they may expect to be told what action has been taken against the employee. Employers should be very careful about this. You can acknowledge that correspondence has been received and confirm that any appropriate internal matters will be dealt with. However, that does not mean the complainant is entitled to know whether the employee has been spoken to, investigated or disciplined.

The employment relationship remains between the employer and employee. This type of complaint also demonstrates why clear IT and acceptable-use policies matter. Work email addresses, phones, vehicles, uniforms and other company resources can create an association between an individual’s conduct and their employer.

When a third-party complaint arrives, don’t ignore it simply because the complainant doesn’t work for you. But equally, don’t allow someone else’s personal dispute with your employee to automatically become your investigation. Establish the facts, identify whether there is a genuine workplace connection and keep your response focused on the part that actually concerns the business.

Sometimes that may justify a formal investigation. Sometimes an informal conversation or reminder about company systems will be sufficient. And sometimes, after considering the information, there may be no employment action required at all.

If you have any concerns about this subject contact us at enquiries@121hrsolutions.co.uk and we can discuss.