Notices, letters and closure templates
Suspension Pending Investigation & Interim Measures Memo
Last updated 2026-07-30
Interim measures are the steps taken while the investigation runs: schedule changes, reporting-line changes, separation of the parties, occasionally suspension. They exist to manage risk during the process, not to anticipate its outcome.
The recurring failure is that the measure lands on the complainant. Moving the person who complained — changing their shift, relocating their desk, shifting their duties — is read as retaliatory almost regardless of the intention behind it, and it produces a second complaint that is often stronger than the first. Where separation is necessary, the starting presumption should be that the burden falls on the respondent.
Jurisdiction
Written primarily against US federal standards — EEOC guidance, NLRB decisions and Title VII case law — and against general investigative practice. State law, sector rules (public employers, education, regulated industries) and collective agreements impose additional requirements this page does not cover. Where a page borrows a concept from another jurisdiction it says so explicitly. Outside the US, treat the structure as transferable and the legal references as not.
Suspension Pending Investigation template
Free Word download, no email required. Or open it in Professional Drafter — it lands in your template library, ready to draft against.
When to use this document
- Where continued contact between the parties creates a real risk during the investigation.
- Where there is a safety concern or a risk of evidence interference.
- Where the respondent holds supervisory authority over the complainant or witnesses.
Worked example
Fictional scenario, continuing the dispatch-team matter. The memo of 3 June — including the paragraph that answers the retaliation allegation nobody has made yet.
The memo
- Date of decision:
- 3 June 2026
- Decision-maker:
- Director of Human Resources (not the investigator)
- Affected:
- S. Whelan, Team Lead, Dispatch
INTERIM MEASURES — MATTER RW-2026-038
RISK ADDRESSED
The respondent is the complainant's team lead and controls shift allocation for the dispatch team, including for two employees identified as witnesses. That is a specific and articulable risk of influence over the evidence. It is not a general concern about atmosphere, and I would not impose a measure on that basis.
MEASURE
With effect from 4 June 2026 and until reviewed, shift allocation for the dispatch team transfers to the Shift Supervisor. Mr Whelan's pay, grade, benefits, job title, duties and reporting line are unaffected. He retains all other team lead responsibilities.
- Moving the complainant to another team:
- rejected. It would place the burden of the measure on the person who raised the complaint, which is read as retaliatory regardless of intent and would in my view be a detriment in its own right.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
Suspension: rejected. The risk identified concerns influence over shift allocation, and removing that single function addresses it. Suspension would be disproportionate and would be widely read as implying a finding.
Doing nothing: rejected for the reasons at RISK above.
NON-PUNITIVE
This measure is precautionary. No finding has been made against Mr Whelan and none may be until the investigation concludes. It is not disciplinary and will not be recorded on his file as such.
REVIEW
To be reviewed by me on 30 June 2026, and to end on the earlier of the conclusion of the investigation or a review determining the risk has abated.
COMMUNICATED
3 June, in person, by me to Mr Whelan, with the reason and the review date given as set out above. 3 June, in writing, to the Shift Supervisor — scope of the change only, no reason given.
The paragraph that matters most
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED is the one to write carefully, and it is the one most often omitted.
If a retaliation claim is made later — by either party — this is the contemporaneous record showing the decision-maker identified the obvious retaliatory option, named it, and rejected it for a stated reason. Written after the fact it is an argument. Written on 3 June it is evidence.
Note also who signed it. The investigator advised on the risk; the Director decided. An investigator who imposes measures has stopped looking impartial, whatever the merits of the measure.
Section-by-section guide
What each section is for, what a good one contains, and where they typically go wrong.
1.Memo details
Matter, date, decision-maker and who is affected.
2.Risk being addressed
The specific risk, not a general concern. 'Respondent directly supervises two witnesses and controls their shift allocation' is a risk. 'Tension in the team' is not, and will not support the measure if it is challenged.
3.Measure adopted
Exactly what is changing, for whom, from when. Include what is not changing — pay, benefits, status — because the absence of detriment is the main thing that keeps a measure from reading as discipline.
4.Why this measure and not another
Record the alternatives considered and why they were rejected, particularly if the measure affects the complainant. This is the paragraph that answers a retaliation allegation later.
5.Non-punitive statement
An express statement that the measure is precautionary, implies no finding, and will be reviewed. Say it in the memo and say it to the affected person.
6.Review date and end conditions
When it will be reviewed and what ends it. Interim measures that quietly become permanent are a common source of later claims.
7.Communication record
Who was told, when, in what terms, and what they were told about the reason.
Common mistakes
The failure modes that show up most often when this document is reviewed later.
Moving the complainant
It is read as retaliation whatever the intent, and frequently generates a second, stronger complaint. Start from the presumption that the burden falls on the respondent.
Suspending as a default
Suspension is a significant step that is often read as a finding. It needs a specific risk justification, not general caution.
No review date
Measures drift into permanence and become detriments in their own right.
The investigator deciding the measure
It compromises the appearance of impartiality. The organization decides; the investigator can advise on risk.
Questions
- How long can an interim measure stay in place?
- Only as long as the risk it addresses. Set a review date when you impose it and actually hold the review — measures that quietly become permanent turn into detriments in their own right, and an employee who has been on 'temporary' altered duties for eight months has a complaint of their own.
- The respondent says the measure is punishing them before any finding. What do I say?
- Say what the memo should already record: the specific risk it addresses, that it is precautionary, that no finding has been made, what is unaffected — pay, grade, benefits, title — and when it will be reviewed. If you cannot answer those in a sentence each, the measure may not be proportionate.
- Should the respondent be suspended during an investigation?
- Only where there is a specific, articulable risk that a lesser measure cannot manage — safety, evidence interference, or authority over witnesses. Suspension is widely read as implying a finding, so the memo should state expressly that it is precautionary and set a review date.
- Can we move the complainant to a different team during the investigation?
- It is usually the wrong choice. Even when well-intentioned, relocating the person who complained is commonly perceived as retaliatory. If there is no alternative, record the alternatives considered, the reason they were rejected, and confirm no detriment to pay, status or benefits.
The blank template
Exactly what is in the Word download, so you can see the structure before deciding whether you want it.
Memo details
Risk being addressed
Measure adopted
Why this measure and not another
Non-punitive statement
Review date and end conditions
Communication record
Download this template
Free Word download, no email required. Or open it in Professional Drafter — it lands in your template library, ready to draft against.
Related templates
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.
Workplace Investigation Plan Template & Example
An investigation plan template covering scope, allegations, witnesses, evidence, sequencing and interim measures — written before the first interview.
This page is a documentation aid, not legal advice. Workplace investigation requirements vary by jurisdiction, sector and policy, and a template cannot tell you what your matter requires. The worked example describes a fictional scenario.