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Progressive Discipline Documentation
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Progressive Discipline Documentation
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We have an employee who has been spoken to many times about coming in late, work performance, etc. This has gone on for many months. However, nothing was ever in writing - only verbal. Now management
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Progressive Discipline Documentation
posted at 7/20/1999 5:04 AM EDT
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Posts: 24
First: 6/25/1999 Last: 2/28/2000 |
We have an employee who has been spoken to many times about coming in late, work performance, etc. This has gone on for many months. However, nothing was ever in writing - only verbal. Now management would like to warn this employee for the last time and if he doesn't improve, he may be terminated. Can we now document all the verbal warnings, discuss them with him and then let him sign the sheet as a final warning, with the understanding that one more infraction of "any" of the past warnings could result in termination? |
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Progressive Discipline Documentation
posted at 7/20/1999 7:16 AM EDT
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Posts: 946
First: 6/14/1999 Last: 12/14/2005 |
Do you have any policies or guidances re progressive discipline that speak to this subject? Do you have any collective bargaining agreements that address discipline? If so, what has been your practice re timeliness of confirming memos? Is there an aribtrator who will rule on whether management properly advised the employee and who can overturn any discipoinary action for failing to give appropriate warning. Would one warning memo be enough? What has your practice been in the past? Having said that, it is generally considered that documentation should be timely to give sufficient notice to the employee that there is a work problem, what it is, what he or she needs to do to correct or improve, the consequences of continuance, and a reasonable opportunity to make the improvements. While you may have verbally counselled the employee, it is possible that the employee will contend, in an arbitration, or other forum (discrimination charge) that 1) he or she never was told -- since there isn't anything in writing; 2) what management is now saying isn't what he or she was told back then; 3) the mere fact that management didn't put it in writing demonstrates that management didn't consider it serious either. These are some of the possible arguments that an employee can make for management's failure to give timely confirmation of earlier conferences. Technically, provided there is no policy or MOU provision or practice to the contrary, you can confirm the earlier counseling now...but you will need to give dates and some clear indication of what was said then (if there were witnesses that would be helpful). But if you can establish the written docuemnation trail to make a more solid case, then do it rather than taking a chance on relying on way-after-the-fact-created when-management-knew-it-wanted-the- employee-out documentation. Without knowing exactly what management is dealing with, I suggest that the best bet is to start the written confirmation now. |
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Progressive Discipline Documentation
posted at 7/20/1999 5:55 PM EDT
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Posts: 2217
First: 6/16/1999 Last: 12/13/2001 |
I believe in documenting verbal warnings. A short note, which need not be signed by the employee, simply saying that "on [X] date, [P] person spoke with {E} employee about {Z} issue" is all that is needed. Put it in the personnel file. If you have not done that and are relying on memory, the first time you issue a written warning, make sure you say, "You have been previously verbally warned on {X} date by {P} person, on {X plus 3} by {Q} person, . . . " and so on. It is never to late to start documenting what you're doing and why. |
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