Written Warning - Admonishment - Reprimand - One of the same!

Let’s start with the basics - no matter what your progressive disciplinary program is - make sure your employees are aware of it. This can be accomplished easily through an employee handbook - policies and procedures - orientation program - etc. The major key to all of these are that it is a written policy - and that the employee acknowledges through their signature that they have read - understand - and received - a copy of it.

Second - depending on the offense - a warning should be the second or third stage of a good progressive discipline program. An employee counseling should be the first stage - and a verbal warning should be the second stage. In some cases employee counseling is skipped - again depending on the offense.

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An example of an offense where you may go directly to a written warning - or its equivalent - would be - any form of harassment that is not so severe that it merits immediate termination. Remember to use your fact finding process to determine the severity of the offense. If the employee then violated the sexual harassment policy again within at least one year - even if not severe - would merit strong consideration for termination.

An example - would be if an employee had repeatedly asked another employee on a date after the employee clearly indicated they were not interested in doing so. That may merit the first warning or more depending on the facts. This same employee - 8 months later - repeatedly asks a different employee who clearly indicates they are not interested. So even if your progressive disciplinary program states the following - employee counseling - verbal warning - 1st written warning - 2nd written warning - 3rd written warning which equals termination - I would most likely jump right to termination in this example.

Any form of discrimination might be another situation where you have to give great consideration to jumping ahead to issuing an immediate written warning - and possibly immediate termination.

I have included some sample written warning letters below. Just review any or all of the links that are of interest to you.

Remember the reason for disciplinary action is to correct behavior - not punish - or set the example. Although many get this wrong - and those that do get it wrong usually pay a price down the road. What kind of price - generally it is in the form of a decrease in productivity - but in some cases it is in the form of a wrongful discharge claim. One wrongful discharge claim that has merit could result in a stiff monetary penalty

Depending on your policy - I would recommend - that as you consider your progressive disciplinary program - that employee behavior does not have to be for the same thing.

Let me give you an example - an employee is tardy and you issue an employee counseling - then two months later the employee is late returning from their scheduled break and you issue a verbal warning - then one month later the employee is short on their register and you issue the first warning - one month later the employee is tardy again and you issue the second written warning…

You get the picture… It does not necessarily have to be for the same offense - unless you have put that into your policy.

When writing your written warning - stick with the facts only. I would recommend that you clearly identify that it is a written warning - what policy or infraction it is for - give the specifics of the infraction including dates and times - what the correct behavior should be - what the consequences will be if they do not correct the behavior - you sign and date it - they sign in and date it.

The last detail that you may need to give consideration to is - what is the time frame from the first stage of the progressive disciplinary process to possible termination? In many organizations - a reasonable time frame is a rolling calendar of 12 months. You must use your judgment though - be consistent - and make sure you are checking your facts to determine what course of action you intend to follow.

I have attended many unemployment hearings and in all cases I have been required to produce the written warnings issued to the employee. Once I did - the outcome was always the same - our position was upheld. Now of course there was more to the hearing than this - but - it was the foundation.

You have a dietitian working in a health care facility that has the responsibility of checking food trays as they are filled. Just before the food tray is placed into the food cart for delivery - they verify that the patient is getting everything they are required - and more importantly - not getting any item they should not.

For example if the patient is diabetic and they are getting a food item that they should not - it could be a problem. Another example would be if a patient was not to receive any solid food - and they do - again - may be a problem. In most cases they are the last line of defense. It is a very critical position.

So I had a real experience where the dietitian missed checking the tray correctly - and the patient did receive it. Fortunately the nurse in the room happened to notice - and was able to stop the patient from getting the tray. Keep in mind the nurse was not a part of the checks and balances - but it worked out good. In this particular situation - if the patient had received the food tray - they may have had problems digesting the food. This was the first time we were aware of that the dietitian missed a tray. They had been there a little over two years. We also discovered through interviews with other staff that the dietitian would take cell phone calls as she monitored the outgoing trays.

After doing a thorough fact finding process we determined the above facts to be accurate.

What would you have done - if anything - as it relates to discipline?

We determined that this element of their position was critical - that they were not acting prudently by taking cell phone calls during such an important process - leaving patients at potential risk. We issued a written warning.

Thank you!

If you remember one basic principle as it relates to employee discipline and that is that it is a tool to correct behavior and not to terminate someone! If you goal is to achieve termination then you have most likely failed in so many ways as a leader or manager! Now I am not saying that through the disciplinary process that you will not terminate employees because it will happen. However, I am saying that you should not tolerate poor behavior so long before doing something that your goal is to terminate them.

Therefore, if someone is late for work by a few minutes you may give them a pass the first time. Now keep in mind that employees watch what you do to one so the idea is very simple. Make sure you are consistent with your actions. Therefore, if you give one a free pass the first time you need to make sure everyone else gets the same treatment. Now when I use the term free pass I am not telling you to ignore them being late. If they are late make sure you explain to them in private that they were late and I your expectation of their arrival time going forward. I would provide them with an email or some other in formal notice so that you have a written record of the conversation.

If that same employee is late again or violates a different company rule/policy I would recommend moving to the next level. In my operation we use what is called a written counseling. This is a formal notice in writing on company letter head that explains the violation and how to correct their behavior. It goes on to inform them if they violate another company policy/rule they may be subject to additional discipline up to and including termination.

When the next violation does occur with that same employee I would definitely recommend a written warning. On that written warning I would state the previous counseling and/or any previous written warnings issued within the last year. If the employee would violate your company policy whereby you have to issue three written warnings within a one year time span I would terminate that employee on the third written warning.

Now be careful there is a lot more that goes into this than just issuing a warning. We have a lot of sue happy employees out there and they are just looking for an opportunity to get into your back pocket and take your cash from you. So be extremely fair and consistent with your actions, and always consult your legal representative for advice.