Human Resource Blog

Yes. In the absence of a contract to the contrary, employers are permitted to impose disciplinary measures such as suspensions and pay reductions as they see fit. As long as these actions are not taken in a discriminatory manner, meaning they were not taken on the basis of race, gender, age, etc., they are perfectly legal.

Additionally, employers must be careful to ensure minimum wage requirements are met, when reducing the pay of a nonexempt employee.

Yes, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, employers are permitted to impose disciplinary measures such as suspensions and pay reductions as they see fit. As long as these actions are not taken in a discriminatory manner, meaning they were not taken on the basis of race, gender, age, etc., they are perfectly legal.

Additionally, employers must be careful to ensure minimum wage requirements are met, when reducing the pay of a nonexempt employee.

Most employers permit employees to write a statement to add to any disciplinary write-ups, and it is a good idea to do so, especially if there is a disagreement about what has taken place. By getting the employee’s version of events in writing, you will know exactly what they are alleging, and this could prove invaluable in the event of a discrimination claim or lawsuit. This would not generally be considered grounds for termination.

As to how many warnings you must give, there are a couple of factors to consider. First, if you are an at-will employer, you may terminate an employee for any reason or no reason, as long as there is no violation of law. So while you can terminate for poor performance or bad conduct, you cannot legally terminate because of race, gender, age, etc.

Secondly, you will want to review any employment contracts or collective bargaining agreements and be sure to adhere to the procedures contained therein.

Finally, you must adhere to your own disciplinary policies. Some employers establish policies that essentially guarantee an employee several warnings before termination can take place. If you have such a policy, you will need to provide the designated number of warnings.

Hopefully, your disciplinary policy contains language that allows the employer to skip one or more steps in the process; if this is the case, there is no legally- mandated number of warnings that must be given.

A progressive discipline policy basically establishes different levels of discipline that may be imposed for various performance or conduct problems. The steps may include a verbal warning, written warning, final warning, and termination, or other steps. Typically, an employer’s policy will provide for the first level being imposed for a first violation, followed by the second level for a second violation, etc. Some employers set time limits during which a second violation would result in the next disciplinary level

For example, an employer may impose a verbal warning for 5 absences within 12 months, a written warning for 7 absences within 12 months, etc. As time passes, some of the absences will fall off, so with each violation, the employer would look back for 12 months (or whatever timeframe the policy establishes) and count the applicable occurrences.

It is important that progressive disciplinary policies also clearly provide for employers to skip one or more steps of the process, as warranted by the circumstances. This will help to mitigate the risk of a discrimination claim if the company decides a higher level of discipline is called for in a particular situation.

Usually, you will want to issue any disciplinary action as soon as possible. However, if an employee has not been back to work since the offense, you are well within your rights to issue a delayed warning.