Employee Interviews in Internal Investigations

Tell the employee who you represent, that the company is the client, and that they may still have labour rights — a fake Miranda/Upjohn hybrid helps no one.

Interviews in a China investigation should be planned: language, two-person rule, notes, and no promise that ‘this is privileged so you are safe’. PRC lawyer-client privilege is not US attorney-client privilege. Labour law still constrains coercion, detention in a meeting room, and forced WeChat unlocks. Criminal exposure means you may need separate counsel for the individual. This page is the interview. WeChat/email review is data, not a substitute for asking.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

Who is in the room?

Counsel, HR, translator.

Room

What warning is honest?

Company client; limited privilege.

Warning

Criminal overlay?

Stop and get the person counsel.

Crime

Notes vs recording?

Labour and evidence overlay.

Record

Working rule: Interviews in a China investigation should be planned: language, two-person rule, notes, and no promise that ‘this is privileged so you are safe’.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal

Ask the operating question

Why it changes the route

Locked in a room for hours

Coercion.

Labour and later criminal issues.

‘Everything is privileged’

Overpromise.

Privilege page.

Ambush unlock of personal WeChat

HR standing over a private phone.

WeChat related guide.

Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Interview planTopics and documents to put to them.

02Attendance noteTime in/out.

03Signed record if usedLabour-usable.

Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Must they attend?

Employees generally must cooperate with lawful work instructions; they need not incriminate themselves in a criminal sense. Facts are counsel-grade.

Can we record secretly?

Evidence and labour risk. Prefer announced recording or two-note-takers.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law (NPC)

SAMR

Supreme People’s Procuratorate

National laws database (NPC)