Templates
Notices, letters and closure templates
Acknowledgment letters, interim measures memos, non-retaliation reminders and outcome letters to complainants and respondents — the correspondence that surrounds an investigation.
The letters around an investigation carry more risk per word than the report does. They go directly to the parties, they are read in a heightened emotional state, and an outcome letter that says too much can create a defamation exposure that the report itself would not.
These templates cover the correspondence from first acknowledgment through to closure, with guidance on the recurring judgment call: how much detail to give each party about an outcome.
4 templates in this section
Complaint Acknowledgment Letter Template & Sample
A letter acknowledging receipt of a workplace complaint — confirming what will happen next, the confidentiality position and the non-retaliation commitment.
Template + worked example + .docx
Suspension Pending Investigation & Interim Measures Memo
A memo recording interim measures during an investigation — the risk addressed, why the measure is not punitive, who decided, and when it will be reviewed.
Template + worked example + .docx
Investigation Outcome Letter Templates & Samples
Outcome letter templates for both parties, with guidance on the hardest judgment in the process: how much detail each party receives about the findings.
Template + worked example + .docx
Notice of Investigation Letter to an Employee: Template & Example
Notice of investigation letter template for the respondent, with a worked example: how much detail to give, notice period, lawful confidentiality wording.
Template + worked example + .docx
The sequence, and what each letter is for
The complaint acknowledgment letter goes out first and does one job: it confirms the complaint was received and describes what happens next. It is not the place to characterize the complaint, promise an outcome, or set a completion date you cannot meet.
The notice of investigation tells the respondent that they are the subject of one. Sending it is not a finding against them, and the letter has to be written so that it cannot be read as one. Where interim measures are being put in place, the interim measures memo records what was done and why — separately, because the reasoning behind a temporary arrangement is different in kind from the notice itself.
The outcome letters close the matter with each party. There are two of them, and they are not the same letter with names swapped.
The recurring judgment: how much to say
This is the decision that carries the most risk per word in the whole process. Say too little and the complainant reasonably concludes nothing happened, which is how a closed matter becomes a live grievance. Say too much — particularly about a respondent, in writing, to someone else — and you have created an exposure the report itself would not have created, because the report has a controlled readership and a letter does not.
The workable line is to describe outcomes rather than reproduce findings. A complainant can be told that their allegations were investigated, which were substantiated and which were not, and that the organization has taken action where it was warranted. A respondent needs the findings that concern them, in specific terms, because they are the person affected by them. Neither letter needs to relay what other people said about anyone.
Write on the assumption the letter travels
Every one of these letters is forwarded, screenshotted, shown to a partner, read aloud to a representative, or produced later. That is not misuse; it is the normal life of a letter delivering news someone did not want.
So the test for every sentence is whether it survives being read by someone with no context and no goodwill. Characterizations of a person, editorializing about how a complaint was brought, and speculation about motive all fail that test. Dates, decisions, and what happens next all pass it.