In order to achieve and consistently maintain a good climate of employee relations, all of our supervisors must understand the nature of the disciplinary process...what it is, how it functions and the consequences if appropriate and prompt actions are not taken.

Why Supervisors Don't Discipline

Lack of Training Management Won't Back Me Up Fear of Consequences Other Supervisors Don't I Don't Have Time

Guilt Feelings Loss of Friendship Dislike of Conflict Desire to be a Nice Guy

Counter-Productive Behaviors
We will identify types of employee behaviors which are barriers to efficient performance. These behaviors represent a significant cost to the company. Decreasing such counter-productive activities through better supervision, maintenance of positive discipline and appropriate action programs will contribute to more successful operations. The most common counter-productive activities by employees include:

1. Absenteeism: While some absences are obviously legitimate and unpreventable, many are not. A well-devised follow-up program can reduce absenteeism at considerable cost savings to the company.

2. Accidents: Research evidence indicates a direct relationship between accidents and employee dissatisfaction on the job. Safety violations or careless acts, either in an office environment, or in the plant, may lead to disciplinary action. Therefore, it is appropriate for us to include accidents in our list of counter-productive activities.

3. Inventory Shrinkage: While some shrinkage of material and product can be attributed to other varied causes, our concern is for that which can be related to theft, carelessness or faulty record keeping.

4. Machine/Equipment Repair: Machines and equipment do wear out. They need preventive maintenance and repair, In addition to normal breakdown; however, they can experience sabotage, neglect from indifference or careless abuse (it's not mine syndrome). This activity can be very costly, not only in repair cost, but in reduced levels of productivity and safety.

5. Poor Quality Work: Below-standard quality identifies itself in two ways. Product or service rejected and scrapped (from typed reports to or damaged product) or in product complaints by customers. The latter is more serious since it may lead to extra costs due to rework or replacement of the whole job and to permanent loss from sales to that customer.

Good Management
Good management stresses a positive approach in the effective work force. Unfortunately, fear of punishment is still the most effective deterrent understood by some employees. Permissiveness, laxness and negligence on the part of supervision to apply rules may be license for some to take advantage of the situation. In such cases, determination to exercise firm discipline may be the only remaining remedy. On the other hand, when employees understand and accept rules which they consider sensible and fair, they become built-in regulators of employee conduct and reduce the negative impact of counter-productive behavior.

Definition: Discipline - Treatment that corrects or punishes behavior."

Unfortunately, discipline is frequently thought of in this narrow and punitive sense. When discipline is synonymous with punishment, it's entirely negative. Discipline can also be defined as: "A constructive, positive force that enables people to work together in harmony."

Key Factors
In analyzing discipline problems, no two situations are quite the same. Therefore, the supervisor must carefully investigate and thoroughly consider these key factors in arriving at the degree of penalty and the course of action in a disciplinary case:

1. Seriousness of the Problem: Is it a major infraction requiring immediate action, or suspension while the investigation is conducted?

2. Time Span: Has this or other infraction been caused lately by the same employee?

3. Frequency of the Same Problem: Is the incident one of a recurring pattern or behavior? Is it minor in nature, or a major infraction?

4. Past Practices: This is a critical area. How has the company handled similar situations in the past? How have they been handled in the supervisor's department?

5. Employee's Work History: Is the employee normally a cooperative worker? How long has the individual been with the company? What has been the quality of their performance? How is the individuals physical and emotional health?

6. Extenuating Circumstances: Are their unusual factors which have contributed to the situation?

7. Clearly Defined Rules: Are rules governing employee conduct clearly defined and communicated to employees and can all employees be reasonably expected to know them?

The Progressive Discipline Program
Our progressive discipline program is based on these guidelines:

1. The rules are reasonable.
2. The rules reflect the needs of the company to efficiently create, manufacture, and sell its products and to serve the customer.
3. The rules will be discussed with employees to insure that each employee understands them and the reasons for them.
4. The rules pertain to the work place. They do not restrict the lives of employees, except for matters which might be serious enough to adversely affect our business or the reputation of the company in the community.
5. Rules must be consistently enforced. Infractions should be dealt with fairly and punishment given uniformly.

Conclusion
Managing people is no easy task. It takes a lot of skill to motivate employees to do the work for which they have been hired. Unfortunately, there are some occasions when an employee simply will not work to his potential. Progressive discipline will assist the manager and supervisor in producing a more productive employee, thus making that individual more cost-effective for the company.

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Just Cause for Discipline
A basic principle underlying most disciplinary procedures is that supervision must have Just Cause for imposing discipline. Even in the absence of a labor contract, Just Cause sums up the test used by most employees in judging whether management acted fairly in enforcing company rules. The definition of Just Cause varies from case to case, arbitrators generally have listed the following test for determining whether an employer had Just Cause for disciplining an employee:

1. Was the employee adequately warned of the consequences of their conduct?
2. Did management (supervision) investigate thoroughly before administering the discipline?
3. The investigation must be completed before the decision to discipline is made. Such an investigation, where appropriate, must include taking written statements from the employee(s) involved and from all others who may have witnessed the incident or who may have information to offer concerning the incident.
4. When immediate action is required, the best course is to suspend the employee(s) immediately, pending investigation, with clear understanding that they will be restored without loss of pay if found not guilty. In such cases statements should be taken before the suspension(s) take place. (NOTE: if more than one employee is involved in an incident, you must insure that ALL parties are suspended pending the outcome of the investigation).
5. Was the investigation fair and objective?
6. Did the investigation produce substantial evidence of proof of guilt? It is not required that the evidence be conclusive or "beyond reasonable doubt", except where alleged misconduct is of such a criminal or serious nature as to damage the employee and seriously impair his chances for future employment.
7. Were the rules, orders, and penalties applied even handily and without discrimination? If enforcement has been lax in the past on a given rule or type of behavior, supervision may not suddenly reverse itself and begin to crack down without having first warned employees, in writing of its intent.
8. Was the penalty reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense and the employees' past record? If the record of employee "A" is significantly better than that of employee "B", the company may properly give "A" a lighter punishment than "B" for the same offense, but the difference in their records must be very clear and well documented.
9. Equal Treatment: All employees must be judged by the same standards and the rules must apply equally to all.
10. Rules of Reason: Employees are protected against unjust discipline and permits a challenge to any company procedure that threatens to deprive employees of their rights.
11. Internal Consistency: The pattern of enforcement must be consistent, whether a company disciplines on a case-by-case basis, or uses a rule book.
12. Personal Guilt: Even though two employees are involved in the same act of misconduct, the same penalty need not be applied to each of them. Such things as prior disciplinary records may be considered. An employee being terminated must be suspended while "investigation" the latest violation; however, during this time final review of the documentation and/or approval of the discharge will take place before the discharge.

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Disciplinary Guidelines
Summary of Disciplinary Guideline

Routine Problems
Follow a "stepped" process of discipline. The natural progression for ordinary, run-of-the-mill problems should be:

1. Verbal Warning (Documented on Counseling Statement).
2. Written Warning
3. Suspension (For two to four days. The best results seem to come from notifying the employee on Monday that they have been suspended for three days [Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday] and MUST return to work on Friday. In this case they do not have the advantage of an extra long weekend and have the appropriate amount of time to reflect on their negative behavior and its consequences).
4. Discharge

There is no magic. Sometimes, for example, there may be two suspensions and later, a discharge. Use common sense and, most importantly, document your actions, including verbal warnings.

Serious Misconduct
In instances such as drinking on the job, falsification of company records and the like, it is appropriate to bypass the normal stepped process and suspend the employee(s) immediately, pending further investigation and review. In such cases, the employee should be told that, should the investigation clear them, they will be reinstated with full back pay.

Supervisory Guidelines for Disciplinary Meetings
The company has the right to prescribe reasonable rules of conduct in the work place and to expect employees to abide by them. Discipline should be viewed as corrective and not punitive or vindictive. Keep detailed records. Many court cases have been won largely due to the precise and detailed records kept on discussions, disciplinary investigations and disciplinary decisions Clearly identify the rule infraction and present supporting facts. The subordinate should be given the opportunity to present reasons, causes, facts from their own point of view.

There should be a mutual effort to find a solution to the problem caused by the rule violation and a discussion of how repetition can be avoided in the future. A problem-solving atmosphere is most likely to engage the cooperation of the employee and obtain a commitment to change the behavior in question. The warning (or penalty) should be clearly spelled out on the counseling statement. The employee should clearly understand what is expected of them in the future, together with the consequences of future offenses of the same nature. Remember the importance of documentation. The counseling statement form has been designed to assist in the prompt recording of all the facts and the results of the disciplinary interview and provides evidence that the employee has seen and received a copy of it. It serves to verify the fact that discipline was clearly given for a specific rule violation - - - an important point in the event that the issue is appealed to higher levels by the employee.

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Employee Counseling Statement Procedure

(Form A)
This is THE documentation, it MUST be completed properly to back up your decision(s). The employee counseling statement is intended to document all significant contacts with subordinate employees. A properly completed counseling statement will serve as a valuable historical record and proof of fact, should an employee subsequently challenge an action by a supervisor. Part of this process is to counsel the employee as to their behavior or performance on the job. Use the Counseling Procedure to assist you in working with the employee. The Procedure: (Follow it. Follow it, to avoid a reversal in a hearing)

1. Indicate the type of counseling by checking of verbal warning, written warning, suspension, or discharge in the space provided on the form.
2. Indicate the type of offense by checking of the appropriate offense. If the offense is not on the form, write in the offense type in the OTHER line.
3. Indicate how many times this same offense has had any kind of warning, either verbal or written.
4. The supervisor writes what must be done to correct the problem.
5. If this is a written warning, have the employee sign and date the form.
6. Employee Comments: In all cases have the employee enter their comments on the form as indicated under item 6. Ask the employee to sign and date the form before giving them a copy.
7. Department Management Witness: When an employee is counseled, it is preferable to have a member of senior management present (senior management should be a member of the same sex as the employee whenever possible). When an employee is counseled without a management witness present, and the employee refuses to sign the counseling statement, the counseling session should be reviewed immediately with a member of senior management present. A notation that the employee refused to sign the form should be made on the form, in the space provided for the employee's signature, and the senior management witness should initial and date the entry. The role of the senior management witness is just that, a witness, a quiet witness that does not make any comments while the counseling process is underway.
8. After the counseling session has taken place, the Supervisor fills out the rest of the form. This includes indicating how many other problems they have had with the employee within the past 6 weeks and 6 months.
9. The Supervisor then indicates whether the employee is under suspension for the offense and if this offense is grounds for immediate discharge. Indicate that all avenues have been taken to correct his problem.
10. Then the last bit of information that the supervisor needs to put on the form is their recommendation of discipline.
11. Completeness: Insure that all appropriate sections of the form are completed in detail. Be specific. Leave no doubt as to the performance of the employee which led to the decision to issue a counseling statement. Do not hesitate to contact the President for assistance and guidance in completing this form.
12. Disposition: Copies of the completed counseling statement are to be distributed, as appropriate, by the supervisor, according to the distribution schedule indicated on the bottom of the form. Be sure to present a copy to the employee, even if they refused to sign and the member of senior management initialed the form!
13. Make sure that all spaces on the form which require that dates be entered are properly completed. Many disciplinary actions have been set aside for either the lack of a date or an incorrect date, such as the year!

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Suspension and Discharge

Suspension Steps
Once the decision has been made to suspend an employee, the supervisor/manager must have gone through the appropriate steps of warning the person of the possibility of suspension. Ensure that the appropriate paperwork is completed on this session on the Employee Reprimand form. If the employee persists in their actions, then the supervisor has the authority to suspend an employee under their guidance. The employee must be told when they can return back to work. When the employee has been told that they are on suspension, the supervisor must notify the department manager immediately. When the employee returns back to work, instruct them of the reason for the suspension, and the result if they persist in that behavior.

Discharge Steps
If the action of the employee warrants immediate discharge, then the department manager is the only one that can authorize the discharge. The supervisors will be able to suspend the employee immediately if it is a serious enough situation. Then the supervisor must explain the situation to the Department Manager.

If the Department Manager deems that the situation warrants the discharge of the employee, the manager will instruct the supervisor to dismiss the employee. This is necessary to ensure that all the necessary steps, and documentation, has been taken to cover the best interests of the company, in case of a lawsuit. The Department Manager will have to use the Termination Check sheet to ensure that all precautions have been taken. If everything that can be done to improve the situation has not produced the results that you had hoped for, then next step is to terminate the employee.

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Employee Rules and Regulations

On-the-Job Conduct
This section should be given to employees. Have them sign the last portion and put the pages into their personnel file.

Your Responsibilities as Employees

1. One of the responsibilities of every employee is to know and observe the rules which govern on-the-job conduct and performance.
2. One of the responsibilities of management is to make available to every employee, the rules of the company and what happens when the rules are not observed.
3. The document you are now reading is evidence that the company's management has accepted its responsibility; it is now up to you to become fully familiar with its contents.
4. If you are new to the company, you have had an opportunity to review these rules and regulations during the new employee orientation. You should read the rules more thoroughly after the first week and keep them handy for reference and guidance.
5. If you have been with the company for a longer period of time, do not assume that you are familiar with all of the company's rules and regulations. Take time to read them now.

Company Expectations
Our expectations are basic and simple to understand. We expect employees to be conscientious, reliable and honest; to become proficient in their work in a reasonable period of time and to get along with others...whether they are co-workers, supervisors or customers.

• Attendance: Includes both absenteeism and tardiness. We expect you to report for work on time each day, and to remain on duty, as scheduled by your supervisor. There is no written table of disciplinary penalties designed to cover every instance of absenteeism and tardiness. Since absenteeism and tardiness normally fall in the category of correctable behavior, we will generally take the maximum number of disciplinary steps of increasing severity, from verbal warning to discharge, in order to help employees correct their attendance problems. It should be clearly understood that acceptable attendance is a condition of continued employment with the company.

• Work Performance: We expect you to do your best in whatever work is assigned to you. In addition, we expect you to be able to do at least, your fair share of the work assigned to you and your co-workers.

• Honesty: We expect you to be completely honest and truthful in all of your dealing's with your co-workers, your supervisors, the company's customers and the company.

Rules and Discipline
Rules govern almost every aspect of human life and conduct. Whatever the situation, rules are necessary to assure fairness and harmony. Rules guide our conduct, express mutual expectations and help guarantee freedom from the arbitrary and irresponsible acts of others. Rules are expressed in both positive and negative terms; that is, in terms of what you can do as well as what you cannot do.

• We realize that responsible people will have reasonable disagreements from time to time over what is consistent with our statement of basic expectations.
• A disciplinary action schedule which summarizes the rules of the company and sets out the penalties will be followed in most cases for that particular violation.
• It is difficult to cover everything, and the rules are not all inclusive; there may be other infractions not necessarily covered in the specific rules that may call for a warning or other disciplinary action.
• Most of our rules in the event of violation, provide for progressive discipline. The Disciplinary Action schedule helps assure uniform communication and uniform administration throughout the company's operations, even though individual cases may require individual consideration by supervision and/or senior management.

Disciplinary Action Schedule
NOTE: Suspensions may be recommended for investigatory purposes. Discharge is recommended in cases where an employee is suspended for one rule infraction and is one step short of discharge for another rule infraction.

KEY: VW=Verbal Warning   WW=Written Warning   S=Suspension   D=Discharge

Where W/S, W/S/D or S/D is indicated, the penalty for the rule infraction may vary, depending upon the severity of the offense and other facts in the case.

Sample Employee Rules and Regulations Acknowledgment Form

This acknowledges that on ____________ 199___,



I, __________________________________, have received, read and

understood the Rules and Regulations covering on-the-job Conduct and

General Behavior issued by the__________________ Company.



_____________________________________

Employee Signature



_____________________________________

Employee Name (Printed)

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Sample Employee Counseling Form

The ______________________ Company values both their customers and their

employees. The management has implemented certain policies and controls

designed to help in keeping production up. Recently a problem with one

of our policy or procedures occurred, which is not to our satisfaction.

Below is a detailed explanation of the problem.



Name: _________________________________________ Date: __________________



Nature of Violation: ___________________________________________________



Verbal Warning: ___ Written Warning: ___ Suspension: ___ Discharge: ____



Absence ____ Tardy _____ Conduct _____ Attitude _____ Disobedience _____



Carelessness ______ Substandard Performance ______ Dress/Grooming ______



Other __________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



Past Warnings: None ______ One ______ Two ______ Three ______ Four _____



To correct this problem, the following is what we would like you to do:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



Signed: Supervisor _______________________________ Dated: ______________



Signed: Employee _________________________________ Dated: ______________



Employee comments/explanation: _________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



Signed: Employee _______________________ Supervisor ____________________



How many times has the problem occurred? _______ Period of time ________



How many other problems have occurred in the past six weeks? ___________ 

Six months? ___________



Is employee under probation? ___________

Is problem grounds for immediate termination? ___________



Have all avenues been taken to correct the problem? ____________________



RECOMMENDATION: ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________



Signing this form does not indicate agreement, but only signifies that 

you have been informed of the action and you have received a copy of

this counseling statement.

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Terminating an Employee Checklist

Build legal security into every measure you take toward discharging an employee.

___ 1. Do I have all the facts?

___ 2. Have I documented all the facts and previous actions?

___ 3. Have I carefully reviewed the records?

___ 4. Is the decision based on facts, not second-hand information, suspicion, or emotion?

___ 5. Does the employee understand when and how they have not met performance or behavior standards?

___ 6. Was the employee aware of the consequences of the insubordinate act?

___ 7. What was the magnitude of the offense?

___ 8. Has the employee had any prior offenses?

___ 9. Was there provocation by a supervisor?

___ 10. Is a more in-depth investigation required?

___ 11. Has the employee received at least one written warning of mal-performance or misconduct?

___ 12. Did the employee understand the warning?

___ 13. Was the employee given reasonable opportunity to improve performance or conduct?

___ 14. Will the discharge come as a surprise to the employee?

___ 15. Is termination in this case consistent with past action?

___ 16. Would a jury or arbitrator find that treatment of this employee had been fair?

___ 17. Has termination been discussed with and approved by appropriate management?

___ 18. Am I prepared to handle the termination session objectively?

___ 19. Have I made all arrangements for the termination session?

___ 20. Have all arrangements been made for departure procedures?

___ 21. Is the Human Resources Department prepared to conduct the exit interview?

___ 22. Has the termination been discussed with legal counsel?

EMPLOYEE NAME: ______________________ DEPARTMENT: __________________

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Originally published Nov. 11, 1997