Essay Sample: Employee Conduct, Termination and Progressive Discipline

Introduction

Avery Foster v. Federal Express Corp., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53779. The employee handbook provided by the company made an implication that the employee had entered into a contract. After termination of employment due to the falsification of an employee timecard, Avery Foster held that the company had to safeguard him from “just cause” termination of services as promised in the interview that being a quality worker would guarantee his employment at the company. However, the court upheld that the handbook did not imply a guaranteed job as it found a good cause to terminate the employee.

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Workforce behavior is a vital aspect of an organization as it substantially affects its performance and the productivity of the firm. Thus, companies have formulated and implemented policies and procedures that guide the conduct of employees at their workplace and ensure that they attain the set goals and objectives of a company. The human resource manager has the mandate of ensuring that workers comprehend such policies and put them into action (Opatha & Mithani, 2016). The job description and the organization handbook are examples of where staff may learn of what the company expects of them. Besides, they outline the consequences of employees who fail to meet their expectations or engage in undesirable conduct.

Effectiveness of Progressive Discipline

The application of progressive discipline in the case under review would be useful in that it would provide a disciplinary mechanism that would boost the performance of the employees by ensuring that there is no repeat of unacceptable conduct. Also, progressive discipline entails a stage-by-stage procedure tailored towards changing the undesirable behaviors of the employees as it allows initiating disciplinary mechanisms at a higher level depending on the extremity and aspects of the occurrence. For instance, some actions may call for disciplinary warning while others may result in termination of services. Thus, the human resource manager or the supervisor has the mandate of evaluating whether the workforce comprehends the set expectations and guidelines, determines their willingness to adhere to them, and if there are any hindrances to their compliance such as malfunctioned equipment (Apalia, 2017). In doing so, the supervisor will have factual findings when determining if the undesirable conduct of the worker is as a result of a deliberate action or just an excusable mistake. The effectiveness of this disciplinary technique arises from the fact that the human resource manager will undertake a just and objective investigation to determine the motive or rationale for the worker’s actions. Also, progressive discipline allows the employee to manifest their enhanced conduct or lack of, which will guide the human resource manager in undertaking the necessary action.

Designed Progressive Discipline Policy

The core intent of this progressive discipline policy is to offer a structured mechanism of correction to enhance the conduct of employees and to avoid the recurrence of undesirable behavior. Thus, it will aid the workforce by ensuring that they acquire clarity and comprehensiveness regarding the issues and the repercussions of repeating the same mistake or misconduct. The policy allows for the administration of discipline in an objective, consistent, and unbiased manner. Thus, the supervisor has the mandate of undertaking all the relevant investigations necessary in determining the misconduct of an employee raging from their attendance to work, the achievement of set targets, and their conduct (Apalia, 2017). Doing so may require observation, interviewing the worker, or reviewing of documents such as the employee handbook. In the long run, the supervisor will have adequate factual information that will aid decision making on the most appropriate disciplinary procedure.

The following are the phases involved in the progressive discipline policy and procedure.

Discipline Issues to Address - Attendance, Performance, Conduct

There are specific guidelines on the attendance, such as the reporting time, every employee has their set targets to rate their performance, and they should carry out the activities ethically. Thus, the supervisor has to explain what the company expects from the worker and the initiatives the latter must undertake to boost their performance or find a resolution to the issue.

Do The Provisions Allow for Modification?

The organization reserves the right to merge or omit some stages of the policy based on the factual information gathered regarding the occurrence and the nature of the wrongdoing. The management has the discretion to deviate from the plan if the occurrence calls for a sever discipline strategy. There is a need to consider some aspects when implementing this to enhance objectivity and fairness (Apalia, 2017). Such elements include if the employee has made a similar mistake despite having undergone counseling, coaching, or training previously. Another factor taken into account is the significance of the effect that performance and conduct issues have on the company. Besides, the work record of the worker is another aspect that determines the modification when executing the progressive discipline policy.

Assess When a Supervisor May Act Independently

A supervisor may only act independently when providing verbal warning or counseling to the employee. He or she may take the opportunity to remind the worker of the details of their job descriptions and inform them of the expectations of their performance, attendance, and conduct. The supervisor intends to ensure that the employee undertakes their roles per the stipulated company policies and procedures (Opatha & Mithani, 2016).

Instructions on When to Involve HR

The supervisor involves HR when deciding to execute a higher level of disciplinary action on the employee. The human resources manager reviews the operations as per the investigations of the supervisor and accords the right disciplinary measure depending on the gravity of the offense and the impact it has on the organization.

Role of HR to Advise or Approve Disciplinary Action

The HR approves the disciplinary action based on whether it is a reoccurrence or first-time misconduct. Also, HR takes into consideration the disciplinary history of the worker before accepting the disciplinary action. Evaluation of the performance of the personnel concerning the set requirements of the progressive discipline policy or the performance accountability and commitment policy aids in advising on the best action (Pawirosumarto & Iriani, 2018).

Determine When a Witness Should Be Present

A witness should be present when the misconduct of the employee has a grave impact on other workers or the organization in general. A witness is vital in substantiating the evidence gathered by the supervisor during the investigation.

Different Sequences and Progressive Levels of Discipline That an Employee Can Receive

Documented Counselling

The supervisor will work in conjunction with the employee to provide counsel verbally. The process gives the supervisor a chance to inform the employee of the nature of the prevailing attendance, performance, or conduct matter that violates the procedures and policies of the organization (Apalia, 2017). Rectification of the issue in these stages ensures that no further disciplinary action is undertaken on the worker. However, the persistence of the matter prompts moving to the next level.

Written Warning

If the same misconduct reoccurs or the employee commits another wrongdoing, the supervisor provides an agreed mechanism of correcting the issue in written form, which both the employee and supervisor signs (Pawirosumarto & Iriani, 2018). The worker retains a copy, which is kept in their personnel file. The effectiveness of this step ensures no further action, but the recurrence of the issue calls for the procession to the next level.

Performance Improvement Plan, Final Written Warning or Suspension

The phase specifies the duration within which the employee should rectify their undesirable conduct, which entails the performance improvement plan. The suspension is the final written warning that precedes the failure of the employee to enhance their behavior or if they create additional wrongdoings where they get suspended without remuneration (Pawirosumarto & Iriani, 2018). Continuation of the issue calls for the final action at the next level.

Termination

It occurs due to continued unsatisfactory association between the employee and the employer where the former fails to improve on their attendance, conduct, and performance.

Rules Regarding Merit Increases in Relation to Disciplinary Action

Merit increases with an increase in the performance of the employee. Disciplinary action aims at enhancing performance. The first rule is that the award of merit pay should take into account the annual performance review of the workers as provided by the supervisor (Opatha & Mithani, 2016). Secondly, the merit relies on the approved recommendations of the supervisor.

References

Apalia, E. A. (2017). Effects of discipline management on employee performance in an organization: The case of county education office human resource department, Turkana County. International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration, 2(3), 1-18.

Opatha, H. H. D. N. P., & Mithani, D. M. (2016). Towards Effective Employee Discipline Administration Some Reflections.

Pawirosumarto, S., & Iriani, D. (2018). The influence of work stress, working cost, compensation, and work discipline on employee ‘productivity.