Ask an employer six months after an investigation where the evidence is, and the honest answer is usually 'in a few inboxes.' The findings cite text messages nobody can produce, the security footage was overwritten on day 30, and no one remembers who gave HR the schedule printout. None of that means the investigation was wrong — it means no one can prove it was right.
This log fixes the problem at the source: every item gets an ID, a source, a date received, a relevance note, and a storage location the day it's collected. A chain-of-custody table records every handoff, and a preservation checklist catches the evidence that deletes itself — email, chat, and video — before retention windows close.
Who should use this investigation toolkit
- HR investigators managing document-heavy matters
- Employers preparing files for counsel, auditors, or agencies
- Municipal investigators whose files face public records requests
- Anyone who has ever lost security footage to a 30-day retention loop
What it helps prevent
- Evidence referenced in findings that no one can locate later
- Video and messages lost to routine retention deletion
- Chain-of-custody questions that undermine otherwise solid findings
- Confidential medical or personal records mixed into general files
- Reconstruction-from-memory when the matter resurfaces in litigation
What’s inside
- How to Use This Log
- Evidence Index
- Chain of Custody
- Preservation Actions
- Reviewer Notes
Before you process payroll, terminate, classify, deduct, or respond to a claim, get the decision reviewed.
Faulkner HR Solutions helps Texas employers, nonprofits, municipalities, and growing businesses fix the people systems behind recurring workplace problems. If this resource raised a risk flag, do not guess your way through the next step.