Generally, investigations of workplace misconduct, such as sexual harassment, are conducted by a variety of professionals, including internal human resource staff, in-house attorneys, external human resource consultants, external attorneys or private investigators. Although in-house staff may conduct investigations in California, special rules apply when a California employer chooses to hire an external investigator.
Under the California Business and Professions Code Section 7520-7539, an external consultant hired to conduct a workplace investigation must be a state-licensed private investigator or state-licensed attorney. Human resource consultants who are not licensed attorneys or private investigators cannot legally conduct such investigations.
An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.