Employee was obviously over his head, and rather than work with manager, he went to HR and reported lies about the manager.

Anonymous

August 21,2022 at 12:30PM UTC

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Employee was obviously over his head, and rather than work with manager, he went to HR and reported lies about the manager. Without letting manager know, management decided to have him report to a different manager which he seemed happy about, however he did resign the following week. After he resigned, HR asked to speak to manager to get their side—-is this acceptable?

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SLTAugust 21,2022 at 12:31PM UTC
Of course it's acceptable - HR wants all sides. Although employee quit, HR needs to know what is going on for future reference
AnonymousAugust 21,2022 at 12:34PM UTC
I think HR should have gotten the managers side first but it’s good they’re trying to get the full picture now.
AnonymousAugust 21,2022 at 12:39PM UTC
Agreed,I was thinking HR should have informed the manager and attempted some management of the employees complaints.
Communication is definitely one are that could have been worked on, he said nothing of his complaints to the manager, went right to HR and then HR did not let the manager know—-this is what made me feel that this was all unfair, and even though he resigned, the current manager is made to look at fault somehow?
Rebecca AliAugust 21,2022 at 2:03PM UTC
Is your question - should HR have moved the employee before first getting the other side of the story? Investigations should always include as much data as necessary to make a solid decision. However, depending on the accusations, HR may have played out each possible solution and felt that separating the two individuals was the best course of action given there could have been hard feelings and/or further accusations of retaliation. Perhaps the move was meant to be temporary until all the parties were heard but the guy quit in the meantime? At any rate, I commend them for following through as others here have mentioned.
AnonymousAugust 21,2022 at 2:31PM UTC
There are plenty of reasons why employees bypass their manager and go straight to HR, so that part is common. Moving the employee to a different manager is ok, depending on the accusation, however HR should have spoken to the manager and took their report/opinion/observation of the situation right away. What if the reported offense was occurring to other employees also? Even if the reports were a lie, it is still the responsibility of HR to ensure that the manager was not conducting themselves in an unacceptable manner.
It could be that part of the backstory is unknown to you, but to answer your question, Is this acceptable?- Good for HR for the follow-up, but they get demerits for timing.