DISCIPLINARY ACTION GUIDELINES AND WARNING NOTICE FORMS Thank you for downloading Agent 77’s DISCIPLINARY ACTION GUIDELINES AND WARNING NOTICE FORMS. This form is provided to you as is. As provided, we believe it meets all requirements needed for Federal compliance, as applicable, at the time you download it. We offer it to you in a form to which you can easily add your company name and logo if desired. However, any substantive change to the contents of this document may result in potential legal liability for you and your company. Agent 77, Inc. accepts no liability or responsibility for any of our documents that have had the contents altered beyond simply filling in the appropriate “blanks” and/or replacing “place holder” text and adding your company logo and information. 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Please see www.agent77.com/legal for a copy of the current license agreement. 04035-01-01T 060104 DISCIPLINARY ACTION GUIDELINES (COMPANY NAME) Policy: Disciplinary Action Guidelines Approved by: Date: It is a general guideline of the Company that any employee who violates any of the Company's policies, rules and regulations or general standards of employee conduct and behavior, may be subject to disciplinary action, up to an including termination of employment. Disciplinary action may be initiated for various reasons, including, but not limited to, violations of Company policy, rules, or other guidelines, misconduct, poor work habits, or deficient performance on the job. The severity of the stage(s) of counseling taken depends on the nature of the offense as well as the employee's performance record, and the impact of the action. Generally, disciplinary action may occur in the following stages: 1. Verbal Counseling; 2. Written Warning; 3. Final Written Warning 4. Termination of Employment. 1. Verbal Counseling Discussions should be kept out of sight and hearing of co-workers. Have specific examples of the problem at hand, or well-documented notes available. Couch criticism in a constructive tone. Address specific difficulties openly; do not generalize. If other problems exist or are anticipated, voice them too. It is best to cover all areas jointly than conduct multiple sessions. Elicit feedback. Ask the individual for comments; and ask the questions honestly. If there is a genuine misunderstanding, the issues can be corrected easily. If not, we now have an opportunity to redirect their efforts in a more positive fashion. In most cases, oral discussions achieve the best results. Although your meeting was conducted informally, document the content and forward it to Human Resources. It will be helpful in the event a recurrence takes place (Please See Verbal Coaching Summary). If after such counseling, an employee's behavior or attendance is still unsatisfactory; he/she will be given a Written Warning. 2. Written Warning A Written Warning serves to reinforce previous discussions when work habits and/or performance have not sufficiently improved. It should cover problem areas, which have not been corrected, and those, which have been reviewed during the informal sessions, again, be specific. Write down the particular items, one-by-one. Meet with the individual in a private area, preferably in a management office away from other employees. At all times, a witness must be present during a Written Warning Session. If a Manager is not available, a Representative from Human Resources will serve as a witness. This is for your protection as well as the Company. 04035-01-01T 060104 1 of 2 DISCIPLINARY ACTION GUIDELINES Fully document the discussion and sign it (please see Written Warning Notice). Give the employee a copy and request that he/she sign it. Send the signed copy to Human Resources to be placed in the employee’s personnel file. 3. Final Written Warning A Final Written Warning is necessary when prior remedial efforts have failed or when circumstances warrant the immediate application of this more serious level of discipline. Seek advice from Human Resources as to the direction and method to take prior to discussion with the employee. This is a serious step and we want to be sure all avenues have been explored. Document the situation fully. Meet with the individual in a private area, preferably in an office away from other employees. At all times, a management witness must be present during a Final Written Warning Session. If a Manager is not available, a Representative from Human Resources will serve as a witness. This is for your protection as well as the Company. Fully document and sign the discussion (please see Final Written Warning Notice). Give the employee a copy and request that he/she sign it. Send the signed copy to Human Resources to be placed in the employee’s personnel file. In this stage, the employee may be placed on probation for a period normally not to exceed one month (30 days). Such action is taken when the employee's below standard work habits and/or performance have either continued to deteriorate or have not sufficiently improved, and it is necessary to impress upon the employee this need for improvement. Employees who improve satisfactorily during probation may be restored to regular status. If little or no progress is evidenced during the probationary period, an employee may be terminated at any time up to the expiration date of the probation period. 4. Termination of Employment Please see the Company’s Termination Policy for information on termination of employment. A Company initiated termination of employment action must have the prior approval of the President of the Company. Termination of employment is the most serious form of disciplinary action and therefore, must be carefully considered. Managers should review the “Disciplinary Action: General Guidelines,” sheet and go through the “Managers Checklist for Recommending Discipline and/or Termination”, prior to submitting a termination recommendation to the Company President. All Disciplinary Action forms will be retained in the Personnel File. Discipline is a matter of judgment. Progressive discipline is an effective method of identifying and correcting undesirable employee behavior. However, some situations may require immediate imposition of disciplinary measures, including termination. 04035-01-01T 060104 2 of 2 DISCIPLINARY ACTION: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Instructions: Answer each of these questions to insure that all aspects of the situation have been reviewed before initiating disciplinary action. 1. Does the employee know or should s/he have known what policy, rule, or practice has been violated? 2. Has this policy, rule, or practice been clearly explained to this employee? 3. Did this employee ever receive a prior informal counseling that he or she violated this Company rule or policy? 4. If other employees have violated this policy or rule, did they receive the same of similar disciplinary action as this employee? 5. Has a supervisor done anything to support a reasonable belief that such an action was condoned? 6. How does the record of this employee compare to the record of other employees who have violated this rule, policy, or order? 7. Has this employee in the past ever received a formal counseling concerning a violation of this rule, policy, or order? 8. Has this employee ever received a final formal counseling for the violation of this or any other published rule, policy, or order? 9. Was the incident that triggered the final formal counseling or discharge carefully investigated prior to taking serious or final disciplinary action? 10. Is there a factual, written record showing the steps taken by the Company to correct this employee's improper actions prior to serious disciplinary action? 11. Have similar written records been kept and similar steps taken by the Company to correct the improper actions of other employees? 12. Does the Company evidence include names of witnesses, dates, time, places and other pertinent facts on all past violations, including the last one? 13. Have you considered (a) the seriousness of the proven offense: (b) the employee's past record: and (c) his or her length of service in deciding upon the proper discipline? 14. Did the employee offer any excuses or mitigating circumstances to justify actions in this instance? his/her 15. Have you investigated the employee’s explanation thoroughly? 16. How soon after the act in question is the discipline being administered? CONTACT MANAGEMENT AND/OR HUMAN RESOURCES FOR QUESTIONS & GUIDANCE 04035-01-01T 060104 VERBAL COUNSELING SUMMARY VERBAL COUNSELING DATE WITH FOLLOW UP DATE BY SUBJECT: MAJOR POINTS AND ACTION TO BE TAKEN NOTES & DATES __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ MANAGERS SIGNATURE DATE EMPLOYEE SIGNATURE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: DATE 04035-01-01T 060104 WRITTEN WARNING NOTICE WRITTEN WARNING DATE WITH FOLLOW UP DATE BY SUBJECT: MAJOR POINTS AND ACTION TO BE TAKEN NOTES & DATES __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ MANAGERS SIGNATURE DATE EMPLOYEE SIGNATURE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: DATE 04035-01-01T 060104 FINAL WRITTEN WARNING NOTICE FINAL WRITTEN WARNING DATE WITH FOLLOW UP DATE BY SUBJECT: MAJOR POINTS AND ACTION TO BE TAKEN NOTES & DATES 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__________________________________________________________________________________________ MANAGERS SIGNATURE DATE EMPLOYEE SIGNATURE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: DATE 04035-01-01T 060104 TERMINATION NOTICE TERMINATION NOTICE DATE WITH EFFECTIVE DATE BY SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF REASONS FOR ACTION TO BE TAKEN NOTES & DATES __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ MANAGERS SIGNATURE DATE EMPLOYEE SIGNATURE OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: DATE 04035-01-01T 060104