Disciplinary Policies

Disciplining employees is often one of the most unpleasant parts of your job, but it's also one of the most important. Here are some tips on creating and implementing a disciplinary policy.

Most employers really don't like to discipline employees. It can be unpleasant to give criticism, even when it's desperately needed. But an effective disciplinary policy is an invaluable workplace tool.

Advantages of a Good Disciplinary Policy

A clear and effective disciplinary policy offers many benefits, including:

• Clear guidelines for employee behavior. A straightforward, easy to understand disciplinary policy will tell your employees what you expect of them and what conduct you will not tolerate. Enforcing the policy in a uniform manner will show your employees that you take these rules seriously.
• Employee morale. It's true that the employee you discipline is not likely to enjoy a morale boost, but the rest of your workforce will. Other employees do not like to see a co-worker getting away with poor, unproductive behavior while they work thanklessly at their jobs. And if a problem employee is allowed to misbehave without suffering any consequences, others in the workforce will soon realize that they can get away with slacking off too.
• Protection against employee lawsuits. If you clearly inform your employees of the consequences of poor behavior and enforce your policy fairly, you will buy yourself some insurance in future disputes. It will be more difficult for an employee to argue that his or her termination was unjustified if you can show that you told your employees what conduct would result in discipline, and that this particular employee had been subject to prior disciplinary action.

Writing a Disciplinary Policy

The trick to writing an effective disciplinary policy is to give your employees clear notice of the consequences of poor behavior without locking yourself into following one course of action in every situation. For example, even though you may generally follow a policy of progressive discipline (in which a first offense is met with a verbal warning, a second offense with a written warning, and so on), you want to reserve the right to immediately fire an employee who really acts badly. And you will also want to avoid any hint of a promise that employees will not be fired unless they engage in specified misconduct -- you may find that your employees dream up bad acts you never considered, or that you have to fire employees for reasons entirely separate from their performance (an economic downturn or plant closing, for example).

How to Give the Bad News

Once you know that an employee has violated a company rule, you will have to dispense some of that discipline promised in your policy. Here are some guidelines to follow:

• Don't procrastinate. Once you have determined that discipline is in order, set up a meeting with the employee right away. The sooner you place the employee on notice, the sooner he or she will be able to improve.
• Keep it private. Schedule a meeting with your employee to discuss the problem, one on one. Make sure you can meet in a private place, away from eavesdropping co-workers and office gossip.
• Be honest. Your natural tendency may be to accentuate the positive, but now is not the time to indulge it. The purpose of this meeting is to notice and improve poor behavior. You must tell the employee precisely what the problem is, what steps he or she must take to correct it, and the consequences of failing to do so.
• Be respectful. Even bad news is best delivered with respect. Let your employee know that you want him or her to improve, and that you will help if you can. Set aside enough time for the meeting so that the employee will have an opportunity to respond. Make sure to listen to your employee's concerns; it may be that a performance problem is the result of a misunderstanding, or could be easily corrected if you work together.
• Write it down. Document every disciplinary meeting, action or discussion with each of your employees, and place that record in the employee's personnel file. In the case of a written warning, give the employee a copy of the warning and ask him or her to sign it to acknowledge receipt. These records will help you later, if that employee decides to file a lawsuit.
• Follow up. If you tell your employee that you must see improvement by a certain date, make sure to follow up. Check with your employee periodically to make sure everything is proceeding smoothly.