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DISCIPLINE ACTION
Discussion
Discipline of employees can easily lead
to employment litigation. Communication, documentation, consist of
application of policies, and fairness are the keys to a good
disciplinary procedure. NPCs should have policies that clearly provide
guidelines for employee conduct and the disciplinary procedures that the
NPC will follow if the employee does not meet the employer’s
expectations. Since infractions may vary from relatively minor to
egregious, employers should retain the right to determine what
discipline will be imposed on a case-by-case basis and should not limit
their rights to enforce appropriate disciplinary measures. Employers
should also be extremely careful about documentation when dealing with
protected class employees.
Four basic rules should be followed when
disciplining employees:
- The employee must know what the
problem is.
- The employee must know what they must
do to fix the problem.
- The employee must be given a
reasonable amount of time to fix the problem.
- The employee must know what the
consequences are if they do not fix the problem
A progressive system of discipline will
give an employee a series of warnings at increasing levels of
seriousness. Employers will need to document each level of warning given
to the employee and also document the employee’s noncompliance or
failure to improve performance. Disciplinary action should be given
privately. However, employers may wish to have a third party witness in
the room when discussing any disciplinary action. Employers must
remember to allow employees to bring along a co-worker for a
disciplinary or investigative meeting with supervisors.
After the employee has been given a
verbal warning with a reasonable amount of time to fix the problem, a
written warning should be given to the employee following the four basic
rules listed above. A written warning should include the
date, employee’s name, description of violations, date by which actions
must be corrected, the next step in the disciplinary action or result, a
place for the employee’s signature and the supervisor’s signature.
On a file copy of the warning, an employer should have the employee sign that they
have received the warning and that they understand the requests and the
consequences if the employee does not improve performance. Make sure to place the copy of the signed
warning in the employee’s personnel file.
Depending on
the severity of the action that requires discipline, after the written
warning, an employer may want to give the employee a suspension
(sometimes called administrative leave) prior to actual termination for
non-compliance to disciplinary actions.
When all efforts fail to help an employee
comply, the employer should then review the employee’s personnel file
and verify that appropriate steps have been taken. It may be generous to
offer a “last chance” letter outlining all the steps that have been
taken to alert the employee to the situation and to let them know that
after the next occurrence of the misconduct, the employee will be
terminated.
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