How Progressive Discipline Works

In a progressive discipline system, the severity of the penalty increases with each
infringement of the rules. Among the advantages of a progressive discipline system is the
fact that you can work with the employee to try to retain him or her as a productive
worker without having to resort to termination immediately. Typically, the progression is:

Oral warnings
Written warnings
Suspension
Termination
A progressive discipline system contains the following elements:

Both you and the employee know in advance, to the extent possible, the appropriate
discipline for the violation of a specific work rule.
The degree of discipline is greater for repeated offenses in a given time frame.
All violations are treated the same unless there are unusual mitigating or aggravating
circumstances.
Usually, after a specified time period (like six months or a year) passes without another
infraction, the worker gets a "clean slate." Any later infractions will start the process
again with an oral warning.

Some cases of misconduct are so severe that you may skip the first one, two, or even
three steps. For example, assaults or fighting, stealing, intoxication on the job, gross
insubordination, destruction of company property, etc., may all justify immediate action.
But don't fire the worker on the spot! Firing someone is a serious action, not to be done
off the cuff. Sometimes situations are not as they appear. Give yourself some time to
investigate, and, at a minimum, to be sure of what really happened and who was
responsible.

Progressive Discipline Advantages

While a progressive discipline system may seem like a high-maintenance way to control
employee behavior, it does have advantages. For instance:

The existence of a progressive step-by-step discipline system conveys to employees that

you're not out to nail them to the wall at the first sign of trouble.
The existence of an adequately communicated progressive disciplinary system keeps
employees informed of where they stand.
Having a definite and consistently applied disciplinary system shows employees who
have never been disciplined that those who do need to be disciplined will be.
A progressive discipline policy provides the business with a system that is fair and easily
defensible against a challenge.
These advantages are compelling ones, especially for businesses trying to build and
sustain high employee morale.
Progressive Discipline Disadvantages

Progressive discipline can be an involved process. For very small businesses, it may be
too involved to invest time in, especially if there are few discipline problems. Here are
some of the other downsides of progressive discipline:

A progressive discipline system requires that everyone with disciplinary authority be

trained, fully knowledgeable of the policy, and willing to assume responsibility for
administering the discipline steps.
There may be a lot of documentation and follow-up work necessary to administer the
plan.
You need to have a formal, written policy. This policy need not be distributed to the
employees, but you'll have to have it so that you can be sure it's followed consistently.

In creating your progressive discipline policy, follow these guidelines:

• Specify which behaviors or infringements of work rules are not subject to

progressive discipline (usually these will be serious behaviors that warrant
immediate termination).
• Decide whether to advise all employees of the policy, what your progressive
discipline steps are, how the policy is to be applied, and what the policy does not
address.
• Decide how you will maintain documentation (i.e., memos about oral warnings,
written warnings, etc.).
• Decide if documentation will remain in a file forever and, if not, under what
circumstances and timing the documentation can be removed and destroyed.
• Establish a procedure for maintaining the documentation and protecting the
confidentiality of the information

Exclusions from progressive discipline. Behaviors that are commonly excluded from a
progressive discipline approach and that subject the employee to immediate discharge
might include the following:

• possessing or consuming non-prescribed narcotics on company property

• reporting to work intoxicated/impaired
• instigating a fight on company property
• carrying a weapon without a business purpose on company property
• theft
• destruction of property
• gross insubordination
• misrepresentation of important facts in seeking employment
• violation of confidentiality or sharing of trade secrets outside the business

If you exempt these behaviors from your progressive discipline policy, be sure that you
act on each occurrence of the behavior consistently
. Progressive Discipline Checklist

Follow these steps in exercising progressive discipline with an employee:

Before the Meeting

Arrange to meet with the employee privately. Do not discipline an employee in

public or in front of other workers.
Prepare for the meeting by reviewing your notes and files about both the specific
incident or problem in question and any past discipline taken, either verbal or written.

During the Meeting

Explain to the employee why you’ve called the meeting if the employee doesn’t
know already.
State the specific problem in terms of actual performance and desired
performance.
Review your progressive discipline policy/program with the employee, and
explain what steps have been taken already and what the next step is.
Give the employee a chance to respond, explain and defend his or her actions.
Acknowledge the employee’s story and be sure to include it in your notes of the
discipline session.
Tell the employee that you expect his or her behavior to change. Give specific
examples and suggestions.
Indicate your confidence in the employee’s ability and willingness to change the
behavior.
Have the employee repeat back to you or otherwise confirm that he or she
understands the problem and is clear on what changes are expected.
Explain to the employee that you will write a memo summarizing the session as
documentation.
Reassure the employee that you value his or her work and that you want to work
with the employee to make sure that he or she can continue to work at your business.

After the Meeting

Using your notes from the session, write a memo or other documentation that
summarizes the conversation.
If a written warning has been issued, be sure to give the employee the opportunity
to sign any documentation for the file.
Give the employee a copy of the document no later than the end of the day
following the conversation.
If the employee has other supervisors, distribute copies to them, but emphasize
that the information is confidential and not to be shared with anyone else.
Monitor the employee’s behavior and performance to make sure that the problem
has been corrected.
Verbal Warning

Be sure that all verbal warnings are documented in writing. They are a building block to
more formal warnings in the future. All documentation should include:

The employee’s name.

The date of the verbal warning.
The specific offense or rule violation.
A specific statement of the expected performance.
Any explanation given by the employee or other information that is significant.

Written Warning
A written warning is more serious than a verbal warning and represents a progression in
the progressive discipline process.
In documenting a written warning, include:
The employee’s name
The date of the conversation
The specific offense or rule violation
references to previous conversations and verbal warnings about the problem
A specific statement of the expected performance
Any explanation given by the employee or other information that is significant
A statement indicating your confidence in the employee’s ability to perform
properly in the future
The employee’s signature—if the employee refuses, include a note on the
signature line indicating your attempt to get the employee to sign and his/her refusal to do
so