BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Patricia Barboza, Alinne Gordilho and Amanda Costa, CGM Advogados
6.6 Communications to Authorities From an employment perspective, there is no legal requirement or recommendation to voluntarily report the conclusion of an HR internal investigation to the authorities. However, if the investigation involves a potential crime or regulatory violation, the company should carefully weigh the pros and cons of notifying the police or rel - evant authorities, such as the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU) or the Administrative Council for Eco - nomic Defence (CADE). In certain cases, such com - munication may lead to the cancellation of the state’s punitive claim in the criminal sphere or a reduction of The company is not required or advised to disclose the HR internal investigation to parties who will not be responsible for the decision regarding any actions to be taken by the company as a result of the inves - tigation. 6.8 Disciplinary Measures If the allegations in the complaint are substantiated, the company may choose to impose disciplinary measures on the individuals involved, depending on the severity of the misconduct. Possible actions include issuing written warnings, suspensions or ter - minating employment agreements for cause. Alternatively, the company may opt for termination without cause, which requires statutory severance payments, provided the individual is not protected against termination and termination for cause is deemed inconvenient. fines in the administrative sphere. 6.7 Other Communications Additional measures may involve reviewing policies, updating operational protocols, or introducing new or revised training programmes. Case law establishes that disciplinary measures must be applied promptly after the company becomes aware of the misconduct or, following an investiga - tion, concludes that misconduct occurred. As such, it is recommended that HR internal investigations are conducted within a reasonable and justifiable time - frame. Failure to do so may result in the disciplinary
delivery of the written report to the individual(s) that will act based on its findings. 6.3 Conclusion There are no rules governing the form that the conclu - sion of the investigation must take, but the standard procedure is to issue a written report. 6.4 Reports There are no rules governing the requirements of infor - mation that must be included in the written report. It is advisable that this document contains the following information: • a summary or transcription of the accusation pre - sented by the reporter with a clear determination of the scope of the investigation; • an executive summary of the conclusions, inform - ing whether each of the investigated conducts is substantiated or not; • the methodology, including a description of each of the investigative steps (interview, review of com - munications and documents, etc); and • a detailed description of the findings, preserving the anonymity of the witnesses where possible. Recommendations of disciplinary measures (if appli - cable) and other actions to be taken by the company as next steps are often included, unless otherwise determined in the employer’s internal regulations. The report should contain facts, avoiding speculation or generalisations, and be written in clear, accessible language for an audience unfamiliar with legal termi - nology. Any legal opinions should be contained in a separate, confidential document. 6.5 Information Unless mandated by internal rules, the company is not obligated – and is strongly recommended not – to share the outcome of an HR internal investigation or the corresponding final report with the reporter, respondent or interviewees. In practice, companies typically refrain from sharing the written report or any detailed findings, providing only general updates on the investigation’s status (eg, pending or closed).
44 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook