Dear Reader

Welcome to this week’s Labour Bulletin.

A friend of mine needs to discipline one of her employees, and had a quick chat to me about how to go about it. I’ll admit I was a bit concerned about the route she was planning to take! I stopped her straight away and warned her of the consequences if she got it wrong.

Are you confident you’d get it 100% correct? Check against this handy checklist before you issue a warning.

Issuing a disciplinary warning

Before issuing a warning you must follow this procedure

• Check if the suspected employee could have been guilty.
• Meet privately with the suspected employee and explain the accusation. Make sure he understands the complaints.
• Give him the opportunity to put forward his side of the story. Carefully consider the employee’s explanation.
• Investigate further.
• Decide, based on the facts, whether the employee is guilty or not.
• Inform the accused of the decision and the reason for it.
• Inform the employee of what is expected of him in future and how his progress towards meeting the requirements will be monitored.
• Consider what assistance you can give to overcome obstacles to the employee’s achievement of your requirements.
• Issue the warning to the employee on your official warning form. On the warning you should confirm:

 - the date and time of the corrective meeting and a brief summary of the employee’s explanation of his case
 - the nature of the complaint, the level of warning and the duration of its validity
- what is expected of the employee in future and any agreement reached
 - what the employee is being warned of. He must be clearly warned of the consequences of being found guilty of further infringements (e.g. the possibility of more severe discipline and the ultimate potential danger of dismissal).

It’s essential you get it right, or you won’t be able to defend your decision or procedure. I suggest you have a look at chapter D02 of your Labour Law for Managers Handbook for more information, checklists and templates. If you’re not a subscriber…don’t wait until things go wrong, click here now. 

Until next time

Sarah-Jane Bosch
Managing Editor
Labour Law for Managers Practical Handbook
Practical Guide to Human Resources Management