Knowing when and how to take employee disciplinary action can be a challenge for any organization, especially if you leave it up to individual managers. By creating a formal employee disciplinary process, you can standardize procedures, reduce the risk of bias, and make better decisions.
An effective disciplinary process strikes a balance between maintaining a healthy work environment and protecting an employee’s rights under employment law.
Here’s how HR professionals can create an employee disciplinary process to ensure fairness, compliance, and thorough documentation.
An employee disciplinary process is your organization’s official approach to dealing with cases of employee misconduct. Instead of letting individual managers choose how to address an employee’s behavior, a disciplinary process is outlined in your company policies and employee handbook to promote fairness and consistency.
There are two main types of disciplinary action policies to choose from.
A progressive discipline policy takes a step-by-step approach to employee discipline, escalating from a verbal or written warning to a final warning, demotion, suspension, and/or termination. This disciplinary procedure gives employees multiple chances to improve their performance or behavior, instead of facing immediate termination.
To be most effective, set a clear timeline for each step, such as the number of working days an employee has to remedy their behavior. You can also create a performance improvement plan (PIP) or corrective action plan to address performance issues.
A positive disciplinary policy is one that focuses on positive reinforcement to improve employee performance — that is, the carrot over the stick. Instead of focusing on an employee’s infractions, you focus on opportunities for improvement.
Positive discipline actions can take place in any order. You choose the most appropriate response for each incident, rather than following a strict escalation process.
A positive disciplinary policy is less punitive, which helps to foster a culture of open communication and collaboration.
The employee disciplinary process can be applied to a wide range of policy violations, from tardiness and dress code violations to more serious offenses. These include:
Not all cases of employee misconduct happen in the workplace. An employee who commits fraud, reveals confidential information, or otherwise violates your company policies may still be subject to discipline for actions they took outside of work.
Cases of gross misconduct, like theft of company property or sexual harassment, may require immediate termination and even legal action. Depending on the severity of the case, employees may still be entitled to a disciplinary hearing to consider their side of the story and any mitigating circumstances.
An employee disciplinary process serves at least two purposes. One, it helps to improve employee retention by giving workers a chance to comply with your company policies or meet your performance standards. Two, it ensures that your disciplinary actions are clear and defensible in case of an appeal or legal dispute. Here’s how.
Even managers who try their best to treat everyone fairly can have errors in judgment and implicit bias. It wouldn’t be fair to fire an employee for the same behavior that only earned their colleague a verbal warning.
An employee disciplinary process supports fairness and consistency, while still giving decision-makers room for personal discretion. Employees can feel confident that they aren’t being held to a double standard or benefiting from a manager’s favoritism.
At-will employment means that an employer can fire an employee without warning or cause. But that doesn’t mean employees aren’t protected by anti-discrimination laws and other types of employment laws in their state.
For example, you can’t fire an employee for absenteeism if their absence is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). A formal disciplinary process helps you stay compliant and avoid accusations of wrongful termination or retaliation.
From written reprimands to verbal warnings, documentation is a key component of the employee disciplinary process. You can use an HR platform like Pulpstream to create standardized templates for disciplinary action forms and performance reviews.
Documentation makes it easy for subsequent managers to review an employee’s file and pick up where a previous manager left off. It also allows your human resources team to conduct a thorough investigation or hold a disciplinary meeting.
One of the main goals of the disciplinary process is to ensure that your actions as an employer are clear and defensible — no mysterious firings or unexplained demotions that damage your reputation as an employer. An unclear or poorly-applied policy isn’t just bad for employee morale. It can open you up to legal liability later.
Keep these principles in mind as you navigate the employee disciplinary process.
Even if you choose a progressive disciplinary policy over a positive disciplinary policy, the goal is still performance improvement, not punishment. You don’t want employees wondering whether they still have a job at the first sign of disciplinary action.
Ideally, your disciplinary policy should show that you still have faith in an employee’s ability to improve. It’s only when they aren’t able or willing to address your concerns after multiple stages of discipline that termination is on the table. The exception, of course, is for gross misconduct that calls for immediate termination.
Before firing an employee, it’s important to consider all of the employment laws that may apply to their situation. For example, an employee whose disciplinary issues are due to PTSD might be entitled to accommodation — not disciplinary action.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other state and federal laws may protect them — at least temporarily. Be sure to seek legal advice, especially when disciplining an employee on a leave of absence.
The more consistently you follow the disciplinary process, the more effective it will be. Use automated workflows to guide the process, and set reminders to follow up after a certain number of working days. Check in with the employee to make sure they know what’s expected of them and how long they have to address the issue.
Pulpstream’s employee relationship management platform supports a wide range of HR processes, from disciplinary action to performance reviews and improvement. Use it to track performance metrics, measure tardiness and absenteeism, and store records of disciplinary action in an employee's personnel file.
Disciplinary action can be hard for employees to receive — and for managers to deliver. A fair and consistent employee disciplinary process takes the pressure off of managers to get it right by providing a clear set of guidelines for them to follow. Both progressive and positive disciplinary action policies can be effective at addressing minor cases of misconduct, but some infractions call for more serious action.
Pulpstream supports the disciplinary action process with a comprehensive employee relations platform that keeps a record of every step in the process. Document written and verbal warnings, conduct workplace investigations, and ensure compliance with employment laws that may constrain your legal options as an employer.
Pulpstream also supports anonymous complaints and 360-degree feedback. Book a free demo to see it in action!