1. Counseling
2. Verbal Warning
3. Written Warning
4. Suspension (With or Without Pay)
5. Termination

Today we'll dig into some tips on #3, written warnings, to help you do them effectively... without opening yourself to legal risk if your employee presents additional challenges.

It's a formal notification that an employee's actions were inexcusable and there will be further consequences if the issue happens again. This type of warning can be used as part of a progressive discipline strategy, as outlined above, or as a stand-alone measure, if appropriate. There's both an art and a science to how to write these correctly, to help correct the employee behavior and also hold up in court if necessary.

• Relevant details, such as when and where the event occurred, who was there, what happened (using actual quotes if possible), and witness reactions.
• Reference to other relevant documents (policies in the employee handbook, prior verbal warnings on the same offense, etc.).
• A statement that future violations may lead to additional disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
• An open-ended timeline.

• Your own emotional statements. A written warning is formal and factual, not a place to air your opinions.
• Unrelated prior offenses. If you're writing someone up for unsafe practices on a jobsite, there's no reason to mention the fact that he was tardy to work the previous week, or accused of inappropriate comments a year ago. Rehashing "closed" offenses tends to backfire when it comes to unemployment boards and legal cases.
• A specific declaration of future disciplinary action (such as "the next violation will result in termination") or a specific timeframe ("within the next three months"). What if the next violation can't be controlled, like being tardy ONE MORE TIME because she had to take her violently ill child to the ER? What if he does something three-months-plus-one-day later? In either case, your hands are tied because you made a firm statement in writing. And if you don't follow the exact letter of your written warning, the whole thing becomes invalid for fighting a future unemployment claim or court case.

• Give written warnings in a timely manner, ideally within 1-2 business days of becoming aware of the situation. The longer you delay, the more it'll rely on "he said/she said" statements, which makes it harder to use for any sort of legal battle.
• Have someone review a draft before you present it to the employee. Whether it's the unbiased experts at The Big Picture Consulting, your in-house HR representative, or the employee's direct supervisor, it can be helpful to have input from someone else who's authorized to know the story and can point out where you may be off base.

Written warnings are both deceptively simple and amazingly complex at the same time, but don't let that stop you from using them as a tool to hold employees accountable. And contact us if we can help in any way!