Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 346 views

    Employee Progressive Discipline Policy

    Uploaded by

    Per Las
    The policy outlines a six step progressive discipline process for addressing employee misconduct, ranging from verbal warnings to termination, and notes that the starting point depends on the severity of the offense. It provides guidance for implementing each step, exceptions to the process, an appeals process, and strategies for preventing the need for discipline. Managers should document all steps of the process and employees have specified timeframes to correct issues before subsequent steps are taken.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Employee Progressive Discipline Policy

    Uploaded by

    Per Las
    346 views3 pages
    The policy outlines a six step progressive discipline process for addressing employee misconduct, ranging from verbal warnings to termination, and notes that the starting point depends on the severity of the offense. It provides guidance for implementing each step, exceptions to the process, an appeals process, and strategies for preventing the need for discipline. Managers should document all steps of the process and employees have specified timeframes to correct issues before subsequent steps are taken.

    Original Description:

    Steps for Disciplinary action process

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The policy outlines a six step progressive discipline process for addressing employee misconduct, ranging from verbal warnings to termination, and notes that the starting point depends on the severity of the offense. It provides guidance for implementing each step, exceptions to the process, an appeals process, and strategies for preventing the need for discipline. Managers should document all steps of the process and employees have specified timeframes to correct issues before subsequent steps are taken.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    346 views3 pages

    Employee Progressive Discipline Policy

    Uploaded by

    Per Las
    The policy outlines a six step progressive discipline process for addressing employee misconduct, ranging from verbal warnings to termination, and notes that the starting point depends on the severity of the offense. It provides guidance for implementing each step, exceptions to the process, an appeals process, and strategies for preventing the need for discipline. Managers should document all steps of the process and employees have specified timeframes to correct issues before subsequent steps are taken.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3
    At a glance
    Powered by AI
    The document outlines an employee progressive discipline policy with 6 steps of increasing strictness from verbal warnings to termination. It provides guidelines for managers to address misconduct in a fair and documented manner.

    The 6 steps are: 1) verbal warning, 2) informal meeting, 3) formal reprimand, 4) formal disciplinary meeting, 5) penalties, and 6) termination. Managers have discretion to repeat steps if there is improvement or conditions change.

    Performance issues start at step 1. Minor offenses also start at step 1. Serious misconduct or repeating offenses start at step 3. Severe violations start at step 5. Illegal behavior results in immediate termination at step 6.

    Employee Progressive Discipline Policy

    Policy brief & purpose


    Our Progressive Discipline policy outlines the steps we will take to address an employee’s misconduct.
    We recognize that people make mistakes and our employees may not always follow our policies closely.
    We want to give our employees a chance to correct their behavior when possible and assist them in the
    process. We also want to ensure that serious offenses are thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

    Scope
    This policy applies to ALL our employees.

    Policy elements
    Our disciplinary process has six steps of increasing strictness. These steps are:

    1. Verbal warning
    2. Informal meeting with supervisor
    3. Formal reprimand
    4. Formal disciplinary meeting
    5. Penalties
    6. Termination

    All these phases are official and managers should document them. HR must also keep records of the
    process from step 3 onwards.

    Managers should let employees know when they launch a progressive discipline procedure. For example,
    pointing out a performance issue is not necessarily a verbal warning and may be part of the regular
    feedback an employee receives. If managers judge that a progressive disciplinary process is appropriate,
    they must clarify this to their team member and document the step.
    Each step may be repeated instead of moving forward to the next step at HR or a manager’s discretion.
    For example, a supervisor may choose to have more than one informal meeting with their employees (step
    2) before they ask HR to issue a formal reprimand (step 3.) Managers can make the decision to repeat a
    step if they:

     Feel that the step was not properly executed the first time.
     See signs of improvement in their employee and want to help them further.
     Believe conditions or parameters change enough to make repeating the step necessary.

    Explaining the steps


    Step 1: When a manager or HR issues a verbal warning to an employee, they should do so privately.
    When appropriate, they should provide that employee with a copy of the company policy they violated, and
    explain our progressive discipline steps. Supervisors should provide employees with any coaching or advice
    they need.

    *Employees have [two weeks] to correct their behavior before step 2 takes effect.

    Step 2: A manager (or HR if appropriate) discusses corrective actions with an employee. Employees
    should receive actionable feedback on how to deal with an unintentional violation. They can review
    coaching or mentoring methods.

    *Employees have [a month] to correct their behavior before step 3 takes effect.
    Step 3: Employees receive a formal written reprimand. HR should inform them that if they do not correct
    their behavior within [one week], step 4 will take effect.

    Step 4: Employees will be called in for a formal disciplinary meeting with HR, their Department Head
    and/or their supervisor. They will have the chance to explain their side and HR is obliged to investigate. HR
    must clarify that this is the final step before an employee is penalized.

    *Employees must correct their behavior immediately, or step 5 takes effect.

    Step 5: This step encompasses any penalties that employees will receive. This usually includes detraction
    of certain perks and benefits (as long as they are not mandatory by law.) It may also include suspension
    without pay or demotion for serious offenses. We will still provide counseling in this stage if appropriate
    (e.g. minor cases of substance abuse.) We will apply this step uniformly and fairly. It will not result in adverse
    impact for protected groups.

    *Employees must correct their behavior within [one month] before step 6 takes effect.

    Step 6: Employees who continue to violate our policies, either voluntarily or involuntarily, by this stage will
    be terminated. This step will follow an official investigation by HR (or legal authorities when appropriate) to
    ensure that terminating an employee is fair. A termination for cause will refer to employees who were guilty
    of severe violations or felonies.

    How to invoke progressive discipline


    The progressive discipline process may begin from a different step, according to the severity of an
    employee’s misconduct:

    Performance issues. Procedure starts at stage 1. Examples are:

     Absenteeism.
     Disregarding deadlines.
     Lack of knowledge of Health & Safety standards.

    Minor offenses (one-time). Procedure starts at stage 1. Examples are:

     On-the-job minor mistakes.


     Breach of dress code or smoking policy.

    Serious misconduct/ Repeating an offense for which a progressive discipline procedure already took place.
    Procedure starts at stage 3. Examples are:

     On-the-job major mistakes.


     Rudeness to customers or partners.
     Unwillingness to follow Health & Safety standards

    Severe violations. Procedure starts at stage 5. Examples are:

     Substance abuse.
     Offensive behavior.
     Retaliation against an employee.
    Illegal behavior. Procedure starts at step 6. Examples are:

     Corruption/ Bribery.
     Sexual Harassment.
     Workplace Violence.
     Embezzlement/Fraud.

    HR/Department Heads can skip any of the steps if they believe they are obsolete. For example, if an
    employee has received several formal reprimands for the same offense, HR may choose to terminate them
    directly. Or an employee may be directly suspended for a short period as a punishment.

    This policy is meant to provide general guidelines. Our company reserves the right to treat circumstances
    in a different way from that described in this policy. But we are always obliged to act fairly and lawfully and
    document every stage of the progressive discipline process.

    Right to appeal
    Employees who were not terminated for cause or were not found guilty for illegal behavior may file an
    appeal. For example, if an employee thinks they were demoted unfairly, they can bring this issue to the
    attention of HR. HR will evaluate the situation and may organize a hearing.

    Preventing progressive discipline


    Disciplining an employee is never a pleasant task. For the sake of everyone involved, we will take actions
    to prevent the need for disciplinary action. We will:

    Communicate our policies and Code of Conduct clearly to all new hires.

     Announce any revisions or changes in our policies to all our employees in a formal manner (e.g.
    bulletins, newsletters.)
     Use frequent employee performance meetings to address issues before they become problems.
     Train managers to communicate, enforce and abide by policies.
     Train employees in certain policies and procedures.
     Establish a culture of respect and collaboration.

    You might also like