Are you seeing increasing occurrences of disrespect, harassment, and lack of effort in your organization? Malignant behaviors like threats, insubordination, and theft can spread like cancer, resulting in lower employee engagement and morale, with higher turnover. If left unchecked with progressive discipline, they can lead to a hostile working environment and raise the possibility of wrongful termination lawsuits.

An upward trend in poor employee behavior and performance is a strong signal to implement a progressive discipline policy. Such a policy details a succession of increasingly strict disciplinary actions that will be taken after noted infractions. It clarifies how management must respond to violations and what measures should be taken in each instance. Even more important, it ensures transparency and consistency in corrective and punitive actions, which are necessary elements in the prevention of legal actions against employers.

Benefits of a Progressive Disciplinary Policy

For employers

• Affords opportunities to improve relationships through constructive feedback
• Improves retention by empowering employees to meet standards and expectations
• Provides precedents for consistency in handling related, but slightly different infractions
• Improves morale and culture by clarifying how disciplinary issues will be handled
• Provides clear legal documentation that every opportunity to improve was offered, and terminated employees were treated fairly and in accordance with stated company policies

For employees

• Brings awareness to issues that may have been unclear
• Sets clear consequences for performance and behavioral expectations
• Breeds trust and peace of mind with structure and processes in place
• Affords opportunities to improve performance or reform behaviors

Escalation of Disciplinary Steps

When you develop your company’s policy, we recommend modifying the following basic 5-step model to fit your specific organizational requirements:

1. Informal Verbal Reprimand and Warning – The employee’s direct manager should respond as quickly as possible to a violation by having a one-on-one meeting in a private room. Issue the reprimand and request that the employee review the progressive discipline policy. Ask if there are any underlying issues that management can address to help the employee to overcome skill deficiencies or to remedy behavioral issues. Provide actionable information to correct the problem, possibly including the use of coaching or mentoring resources. Finally, give the employee a deadline of three or four weeks to correct the behavior before step two takes effect. Take detailed notes of the employee’s responses, which will be referred to if the problem continues.

1. Written Warning – Detail the continued performance or behavioral issue in a written warning. Explain the standards in place, against which the offense is deemed a violation. Specify a two-week time frame to improve performance or behavior and state that continued failure to do so will result in penalties and ultimately, termination. Tell the employee that a copy of the warning will be included in his or her HR file, and get a signature to acknowledge receipt and to avoid any future claims that the warning was never received. Note any employee responses.

3. Formal Disciplinary Meeting and Penalties – If the problem persists after the two-week time frame following the written warning, call the employee in for a formal disciplinary meeting with the supervisor, department head, and human resources manager. The human resources manager should review the previous two actions that were taken and ask the employee to explain his or her perspective. The HR manager should mention any penalties that will go into effect, which may include suspension of non-mandatory perks and benefits, suspension, or demotion. Finally, the employee should be advised that the issue must be corrected within four weeks before the next step takes effect.

4. Termination Investigation and Review – If the problem persists after four weeks following step three, HR should investigate the case for termination. This includes a consideration of the employee’s perspective, analysis of any documentation, witness interviews, and a consideration of the potential legalities involved in a termination. These may include an investigation of any employee allegations of workplace violations, manager misconduct, or issues relating to contracts or good faith and fair dealing. We recommend smaller organizations that do not have legal personnel on hand engage an HR attorney at this stage.

5. Termination – If the conclusion of the investigation and review is that the employee should be dismissed, bring the employee, direct supervisor and/or department head in to HR for the termination meeting. Provide a letter of termination to the worker, clearly stating the reasons for dismissal, and request the employee’s signature. If the employee will not sign, send the letter by certified mail.

Progressive discipline is a best practice in both public and private organizations, from small startups and Fortune 100 companies, to universities and governmental agencies. It is essential for a variety of reasons, but in today’s litigious environment, such a policy is absolutely imperative for protecting your business.