Circumstantial, Substantial, Documentary

The past two weeks have been very exhausting for me at work. And it’s not because of any extended hours rendered or clearing tons of workload, but there are certain tasks that may be considered as mentally draining. And when the mind is fatigued, the body reacts as well.

So what is it? Disciplinary Cases.

Handling a case is not that easy as just deciding if the employee is guilty or not. There are analytics involved such as trying to understand why they committed such act if indeed found liable, auditing and reviewing pages of data and evidences and how it can be prevented in the future, trending, mitigating and aggravating factors to consider.

I always base my recommendations on the facts and evidences in a case. There are several types of evidences but in my line of work, we just usually have the circumstantial, substantial and documentary evidences.

The challenge for me is that when evidences presented are merely circumstantial. There is little to build on and when validation is done, it does not yield any concrete findings if the alleged act can warrant a disciplinary action. Circumstantial evidence usually implies that there may be a violation committed but does not in itself prove it. It is often just backed up by probable reasoning.

Ideally working with Substantial and Documentary evidences should be a case closer, but unfortunately there are rare occasions when these too can be inadmissible or lacks merit in a case investigation.

Substantial evidences are often considered as undisputed and overwhelming, wherein a particular alleged act can be proven beyond reasonable doubt based on the validity or authenticity of the data or evidence. Documentary evidences are usually presented in any type of media form. May it be a written statement, a video recording, as long as it is a medium by which factual and accurate information can be preserved.

Doing a thorough sweep and analysis of the evidences can be taxing enough, and there is the duty of serving the notices to explain and eventually termination letters to the accused. How would you handle terminating someone who is a friend either professionally or personally? That’s just one of the things that make this job emotionally and mentally torturous.

I’ve been called the judge, jury and executioner, been labeled as the Terminator, perceived as a messenger of Death, and branded as the Harbinger of bad news. I have to live with those impressions for as long as I am in this field. What saddens me is that HR practitioners try to build a reputation as being someone who you can run to in times of trouble, grievance or pretty much anything under the sun. But unfortunately it is overshadowed by the judgment that we are a police force that does not protect and serve, but rather to punish and execute.

It is a burden sometimes that carries over for a couple of days, bothering me in a sense that as much as I don’t want to be serving any notices or memos, the evidence does not lie. It may be contested but the burden of proof now lies with the accused.

I am fair, just and unbiased, and I let the circumstantial, substantial and documentary evidences speak for itself.

Investigation may be likened to the long months of pregnancy, and solving a problem to the day of birth. To investigate a problem is, indeed, to solve it.

- Mao Tse-Tung