Free template · Word and PDF
Suspension pending investigation letter, with a filled-in example
A suspension pending investigation letter tells someone they’re off work, usually with pay, while you look into a serious report, such as a threat, violence, or missing money or property. It says nothing has been decided and when they’ll hear from you. This one is from the Firm & Fair Paper Trail, in Word and PDF, with notes on what to write and a filled-in example. Hand it over at the end of the meeting and keep a copy.
What’s on it
- The top: your business name and address, the date, and who it’s to, with their position.
- What you’re looking into, in neutral words: a date, a place, what kind of concern. No conclusions, and never who reported it.
- With pay or without pay, starting when. With pay is the usual choice while you look into something. Get advice before an unpaid suspension, especially for a salaried employee.
- The line that matters most, already printed: “This is not a decision about discipline. We haven’t reached any conclusion.”
- Their side: a date, time and place to meet, or a date to bring or send their account in writing instead.
- While they’re suspended, up to four boxes: don’t come to a place, don’t contact a person, return certain things by a date, and be reachable at a number during their usual hours. Keep these narrow: the place, the customer or client involved, the keys. Don’t tell them they can’t talk with coworkers, and ask them to be reachable only if the suspension is paid.
- When you expect to finish, with a promise to contact them by then with the outcome or an update, and who to call with questions.
- The signatures: yours, and theirs, which acknowledges receipt, not agreement. A box for “declined to sign”, with a witness, and a line for anything they want to add in writing by a date, considered before any decision and kept with the letter.
See it before you download it
Real pages from the file. The example is a made-up case. Template for small businesses. Not legal advice. Review against your state and local law before using it.
How to use it
- Take the complaint first, if there is one, and call your employment attorney or your insurer’s helpline before you call the person in, today if you can reach them.
- Run the Check below, even though nothing’s decided. Any yes, tell your advisor before the meeting. You may still need the person off the schedule, and your advisor will help you get the steps right.
- Don’t move the person who reported it. Don’t cut their shifts or send them home “to rest,” however kindly you mean it.
- Hold the meeting in private, with a second person in the room if you have someone suitable, in under ten minutes: there’s a report, they’re off the schedule while it’s looked into, nothing is decided, they’ll get a full chance to answer, nobody involved gets any payback, and when they’ll hear from you. The words, and what to say when they ask who reported it: how to suspend an employee pending investigation.
- Hand them the letter at the end, or email it the same day. Ask them to sign for receipt, not agreement. If they won’t, check the box and have your witness sign. Keep a copy in their file, and your meeting note with the complaint notes, in a folder of its own.
- Contact them by the date in the letter, with the outcome or an update. When you’re done, the investigation summary records what you found and what you decided.
Before any write-up or firing: the Check
Trouble often starts with something reasonable done at the wrong moment: a write-up the week after a complaint, a firing right after a request for time off. The Playbook has you run the Check first.
Before you act, has any of this happened?
- They complained about something at work recently.
- They asked for time off, or for a change in how or when they work.
- They told you about something personal that may need time off or a change at work.
- There’s a workers’ comp claim.
- They were a witness in someone else’s complaint.
- They’ve talked with coworkers about pay or working conditions.
- The timing could look like payback.
- It’s a layoff, and you’re choosing someone 40 or older.
- Someone could believe the real reason is a different one.
Any yes: stop, and get advice before the next step.
A tip from the Playbook: many business insurance policies include an HR or legal helpline. Find out whether yours does now, before you need it.
The Firm & Fair Playbook
This form is half of it. The other half is the conversation: what to say when they push back, what never to say, and when to stop and get advice first.
32 conversations, word for word, 18 templates with a filled-in example each, and Quick Cards for your phone.
$97 once. Instant download. 30-day refund, and you keep the files.
See what’s insideQuestions owners ask
What should a suspension letter say?
What’s being looked into, in neutral words, with no conclusions and never who reported it; that they’re suspended, with or without pay, from when; that it isn’t a decision about discipline; how and by when they can give their side; the few things to do or not do meanwhile; when you expect to finish; and who to call with questions.
Can I tell a suspended employee not to talk to coworkers?
Don’t. Keep the limits narrow: the place, the customer or client involved, the keys. The Playbook’s line for that moment: “Who you talk to is your business. Don’t try to find out who reported it, and don’t lean on anyone about it. That would be its own serious problem.”
When should you suspend an employee pending investigation?
When the allegation is serious, you can’t check it today, and keeping the person at work puts someone or something at risk. Violence, harassment, theft and safety are the usual ones. If it’s minor, or quick to check, just check it. Before you skip straight to a firing for something serious, the order stays the same: send them home pending a decision, check the facts, get advice, then decide.
Related
- Suspension pending investigation A serious report you can’t check today. Off the schedule, with pay, nothing decided.
- Workplace investigation report template The record of what you looked into, who you talked to, what you found and decided.
- Employee witness statement form The form a coworker fills in, in their own words, about what they saw or heard.
- Termination letter template Performance, conduct or position eliminated, each in Word and PDF with an example.
Free
Get the suspension pending investigation letter
The Word file to fill in and the PDF, each with the blank form and a filled-in example. We’ll also send Script 1 from the Playbook, the complete first conversation, word for word.
Not legal advice. Practical wording and process guidance for business owners, written for workplaces in the United States. For a specific situation, talk to an employment attorney licensed in your state.