--- name: employee-complaint-triage-framework description: "Triages an incoming employee complaint by classifying its legal risk tier, investigation urgency, and required response path (informal resolution vs. formal investigation), then delivers immediate protective actions, an investigator recommendation, a documentation checklist, and escalation triggers. Use when an HR team receives a new employee complaint and needs to decide fast whether it demands a formal investigation, who should handle it, and what to do in the first 24-48 hours to limit legal exposure." argument-hint: "[complaint-summary] [parties-involved]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # Employee Complaint Triage Framework ## Purpose Take a raw, incoming employee complaint and rapidly classify it by legal risk, investigation urgency, and correct response path — so HR responds proportionately, protects the organization from liability and retaliation claims, and never accidentally routes a legally protected complaint into casual "let's talk it out" handling. ## When to Use Invoke this skill when the user asks to: - Assess whether a new employee complaint requires a formal investigation - Determine the legal risk level of a complaint about harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or safety - Decide who should investigate (HR internally vs. outside counsel vs. third-party investigator) - Figure out the immediate first steps after receiving a complaint - Prioritize multiple open complaints by urgency and exposure - Sanity-check a triage decision before proceeding with informal resolution ## Inputs Required Before starting, collect: - **Complaint summary**: What was reported, in the complainant's own framing if available - **Parties involved**: Complainant role, respondent role, and reporting relationship between them (peer, subordinate, direct manager, executive) - **Complaint type**: The core allegation category if known (conduct, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, safety, policy, interpersonal) - **Protected characteristic reference**: Whether the complaint mentions or implies any protected class (race, sex, age, disability, religion, national origin, pregnancy, etc.) or protected activity - **How it was received**: Verbal, email, formal written complaint, anonymous, via third party, or during exit - **Prior history**: Any earlier complaints involving the same respondent or complainant - **Jurisdiction**: State/country, and whether the employer is unionized If protected-characteristic status or jurisdiction is unclear, flag the ambiguity and triage to the higher risk tier by default — under-classifying a protected complaint is the costliest error. ## Instructions ### Step 1: Screen for Automatic High-Risk Triggers Before nuanced analysis, check whether any of these are present. If even one applies, the complaint is High Risk and cannot be routed to informal resolution: - Allegation of harassment or discrimination tied to a protected characteristic - Allegation of retaliation for protected activity (prior complaint, leave request, whistleblowing, wage claim) - Allegation of sexual misconduct, assault, or physical safety threat - Complaint against an executive, HR itself, or someone who supervises the complainant - Allegation implicating wage/hour, medical leave (FMLA/ADA), or safety (OSHA) legal frameworks - Any mention of a lawyer, agency (EEOC/DOL), or intent to file externally State clearly which triggers fired (or that none did). ### Step 2: Assign a Legal Risk Tier Classify into one of three tiers with a one-line rationale: - **Tier 1 — High / Legally Protected**: Any Step 1 trigger present. Involves protected class, protected activity, safety, or potential statutory liability. Formal investigation required; document as if it may be litigated. - **Tier 2 — Moderate / Policy or Conduct**: Genuine workplace misconduct, policy violation, or performance-related dispute with no protected-class dimension. May warrant formal or structured informal handling depending on severity and pattern. - **Tier 3 — Low / Interpersonal or Managerial**: Style clashes, communication friction, non-protected favoritism perceptions, minor grievances. Typically informal resolution or coaching. ### Step 3: Score Investigation Urgency Rate urgency as **Immediate (0-24h)**, **Prompt (2-3 business days)**, or **Standard (within 1-2 weeks)** based on: - Ongoing risk of harm or continued exposure to the alleged conduct - Risk of evidence loss (deletable messages, departing witnesses) - Power imbalance requiring interim separation of parties - Emotional/safety state of the complainant Any Tier 1 complaint is at minimum Prompt; safety or ongoing-harm allegations are Immediate. ### Step 4: Recommend the Response Path Choose and justify one: - **Formal Investigation**: Required for all Tier 1 and severe/repeat Tier 2. Includes intake interview, witness plan, evidence preservation, and written findings. - **Structured Informal Resolution**: Appropriate for lower Tier 2 and some Tier 3 — facilitated conversation, coaching, or mediation, with a brief written record. - **Direct Managerial/Informal Handling**: Appropriate for Tier 3 interpersonal issues with no policy or legal dimension. Never recommend informal handling for a Tier 1 complaint, even at the complainant's request. ### Step 5: Recommend the Investigator Match investigator to conflict and sensitivity: - **Internal HR**: Standard Tier 2, no conflict of interest - **Senior HR / different business unit**: When the complaint touches the assigned HR person's own department or manager - **Outside employment counsel or third-party investigator**: Complaints against executives, HR leadership, high-litigation-risk Tier 1 matters, or where attorney-client privilege over the investigation is desired Flag any conflict of interest that disqualifies the default handler. ### Step 6: Specify Immediate Protective Actions (First 24-48 Hours) List the concrete steps to take now: - Evidence and document preservation (hold on relevant emails, files, records) - Interim measures if needed (schedule adjustment, no-contact directive, reassignment — without disadvantaging the complainant) - Anti-retaliation notice to relevant parties - Confidentiality parameters (share on a need-to-know basis only) - Complainant acknowledgment and timeline expectation ### Step 7: Documentation Checklist and Escalation Triggers Provide the minimum record to create now, and list the conditions that require escalation to legal counsel or leadership if they emerge later (new protected-class facts, respondent retaliation, external agency contact, additional complainants, evidence of cover-up). ## Output Format - **Structure**: Triage report with a summary verdict box at top, followed by labeled sections - **Length**: 600-900 words - **Format**: Structured document — verdict box (bulleted), then short prose + bulleted action lists per section - **Sections**: Triage Verdict (Risk Tier / Urgency / Response Path / Investigator in a scannable block) → Automatic Trigger Screen → Risk Tier Rationale → Urgency Rationale → Response Path Justification → Investigator Recommendation → Immediate Protective Actions → Documentation Checklist → Escalation Triggers - **Tone**: Employee relations professional — measured, protective, decisive; states the risk plainly without alarmism or legalese padding ## Quality Checklist Before delivering output, verify: - [ ] The automatic trigger screen explicitly states which triggers fired or that none did - [ ] A single risk tier (1, 2, or 3) is assigned with a one-line rationale — no straddling - [ ] Urgency is one of the three defined levels, and any Tier 1 complaint is at least Prompt - [ ] The recommended response path never routes a Tier 1 complaint to informal handling - [ ] Investigator recommendation flags any conflict of interest with the default handler - [ ] Immediate protective actions include both evidence preservation and an anti-retaliation step ## Notes - This is a triage tool, not legal advice — the output should recommend involving qualified employment counsel for any Tier 1 matter and note that jurisdiction-specific obligations vary. - The most dangerous triage error is treating a legally protected complaint as an "interpersonal issue"; when in doubt between two tiers, choose the higher one. - Retaliation claims frequently outlast and outweigh the underlying complaint — the anti-retaliation notice belongs in the first 48 hours regardless of tier. - Anonymous or third-party complaints still require triage and, for Tier 1 triggers, still require investigation even without a cooperating complainant. --- ## How to use this skill This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills) Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register. **Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:** 1. 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