How to discipline an employee

Here are some options for how to discipline an employee, starting with the least severe consequence and ending with the most severe consequence:

• Verbal warning. This disciplinary action involves a manager, supervisor, or other company official holding a one-on-one meeting with the offending employee.

  Here they issue a formal verbal warning by telling the employee to change their behavior or actions. This is also normally documented in written form and submitted to HR.

• Write up. If an employee continues the bad behavior or actions, the next disciplinary action is to write the employee up. Writing up an employee consists of outlining the incident or incidents involving the employee. Here are the important points:

  • The description of the employee's actions or behavior

  • The time and date of the incident or the times and dates of each incident

  • The number of formal warnings, written or verbal, the employee received before the write-up.

  • Delineate an improvement plan for moving forward

  The write-up should contain information on how the employee can adjust their behavior or performance to avoid being written up for the same reasons in the future. You can reference company policies in this section if it is applicable. Here are the key points:

  • Include how the employee should improve moving forward

  • Cite company policies that reiterate the reason for the write-up

  • Explain the next steps for the employee if they continue the behavior or actions

  • Be specific with possible disciplinary actions, such as suspension or termination

  It is important to make this section clear and easy to understand. It should not be ambiguous in any way.

• Suspension or termination. Suppose an employee persists in the unwanted behavior or action. In that case, the two remaining options for disciplinary action are suspension, where the employee goes on unpaid leave temporarily, and termination, where the employee is dismissed permanently.

  Disciplinary actions might be in order if employees have exhibited workplace impropriety. Workplace impropriety is improper behavior or actions that occur in a working environment. It might refer to wrongdoing in many forms, such as:

  • The use of improper or bad language

  • The use of language that offends others in a workplace

  • Behaviors deemed unsuitable or unsavory for a workplace

  Extreme versions of workplace impropriety include situations involving:

  • Sexual harassment in any form

  • Discrimination in any form

  • Bullying of a coworker or subordinate

  • Racism in any form

  • Sexism in any form

  • Corruption in any form

  • Fraud on a mass scale or fraud on one professional

  • The attempt to cover up any crimes related to the industry of a particular business