Disciplining staff is a crucial matter in all workplaces, albeit a bad one. Effectual discipline can aid to rectify staff behavioral issues and can improve productivity. Effective discipline helps to safeguard your company against unfair termination lawsuits. It’s crucial to have a well thought out discipline policy so that workers know what you expect from them as well as what would happen if they fail to meet set expectations. Such a standard of consistency in your company provides the stability that all managers, employees and HR staff will appreciate.
The following are 5 tips for handling cases with disgruntled employees.
1. Oral Reprimand
Oral reproaches should be given once an employer or manager observes a problem with an employee’s behavior or performance. Oral reproaches should be handled with a lot of tact, to ensure employees understand the reproves are constructive criticism as opposed to personal attacks. It would be useful for managers or employees to draw a verbal reprimand form to keep a record of the oral reprimands.
2. Written Warning
If a member of the workforce doesn’t respond to a verbal reproach as expected or starts to display further performance or behavioral issues, it would be vital to hand out a written warning.
The written notice should contain the precise undesirable aspects of the personnel’s performance or behavior and how they should go about to rectify these issues and the consequences of not changing the various aspects of their under-performance or undesirable behavior.
Employees should be served with a copy of the warning letter signed by the manager or employer, a witness, and the disgruntled employee.
3. Final Documentation
If a member of the workforce continues to exhibit undesirable behavior or under-performance after the issue of the warning letter, managers or employers should issue a final documentation.
After the issue, the employee(s) should be shown the records of all other reproaches given and documented. Managers should purposely explain how the employee(s) in question were advised to conduct themselves and how they didn’t meet the expectations.
Staff should be aware that they risk facing termination if their unacceptable behavior lingers, but should be given an opportunity to meet expectations.
4. Layoff with Probation
If a member of staff continues to meet set expectations after the issue of the final documentation, an employer may wish to grant the employee a last chance in the form of suspension with an ensuing probationary period.
This probationary time may include; retraining of efforts, continuous supervision or dock in pay. Before a decision to suspend an employee is reached, HR professionals familiar with the ACAS Code on Discipline and Grievance should be consulted.
5. Termination
If the disgruntled employee continues to exhibit similar behaviors after suspension or doesn’t respond accordingly to training, it’s time to terminate his services. During dismissal, the meeting should be face-to-face and the staff member given the necessary documentation and explanations as to the precise reasons for termination.
Where all the behavioral issues have been well documented, the employee wouldn’t be in a position to file a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
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