



Early, less stringent, measures are skipped for serious offenses such as theft, fighting, drug or alcohol use or sale.The circumstances of each case and your judgment as to the least severe action that is necessary to correct the situation will help determine which step to use. There is no rigid set of steps nor is there an inflexible rule that all steps must be followed before terminating an employee.The goal is not to punish the employee but to more strongly alert the employee of the need to correct the problem. The goal is to modify the unacceptable behavior or improve the performance.If repeating a step does not resolve the problem, you can then move on to a higher step. However, be aware that an employee may be led to believe that nothing worse will happen if you continually repeat a step. If repeating the step works, the situation has been resolved without escalating it unnecessarily. Or perhaps, the employee misunderstood or you feel there is value in doing it again in a clearer fashion. This may be the case if some time has passed since it was last necessary to address the issue and the situation has only recently reappeared. It is acceptable to repeat a step if you feel that it will correct the problem.Document the process and results of your investigation.Thoroughly investigate the situation which includes obtaining the employee's explanation or response prior to administering discipline.Increase the severity of the action only if the condition is not corrected. The underlying principle of sound progressive discipline is to use the least severe action that you believe is necessary to correct the undesirable situation. Progressive discipline is the process of using increasingly severe steps or measures when an employee fails to correct a problem after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so. Typical progressive discipline steps: oral, written, suspension, terminationĭefinition and guidelines of progressive discipline.Essential elements of each progressive discipline step.Definition and guidelines of progressive discipline.
