How Should Management Address Performance and Conduct Issues in the Workplace?

Final Observation Letter

The management would like to draw your attention to the following points of concern regarding your performance during working hours:

1. You often ask for rest or sick leave due to diabetes, which negatively affects business operations.
2. You sometimes exhibit aggressiveness and nervous reactions towards your colleagues and management when assigned tasks.
3. Despite being warned, you continue to turn off your mobile phone, which is crucial for emergency cases.
4. You do not respond in emergency situations.
5. You frequently complain about working on holidays and Fridays.
6. There are frequent traffic violations recorded against you.

Accordingly, this letter serves as a final observation regarding these issues:

1. You often request rest or sick leaves, as seen in the recent incident where you took two days off, promising to provide a sick leave report, which was never submitted.
2. Your aggressive and nervous reactions towards colleagues and management need to be addressed.
3. You have been warned not to switch off your mobile due to emergency cases, yet you continue to do so.
4. You fail to respond during emergency situations.
5. You consistently complain about work during holidays.
6. Frequent traffic violations have been noted.

As a result, the management has decided to penalize you with a two-day salary deduction and reserves the right to further disciplinary action, including transfers to another department or termination, if the above issues are not improved within a one-month notice period.

You are hereby warned to improve your performance. Failure to do so will result in appropriate action.

Regards,
[Username]

You have given a list of points on which you would like to issue a warning letter to the employee. Nevertheless, the question arises as to why these points were accumulated? Why was he not given a warning letter earlier?

Feedback to the Employee

The second issue concerns feedback to the employee in question. How many times has he been given one-on-one feedback? If feedback has been given, has written feedback been provided as a follow-up?

If one-on-one feedback has not been given, then I recommend doing so. When giving feedback in private, cite specific instances. The points mentioned above are acceptable for inclusion in the written letter.

Objective of Corrective Action

Our objective is to correct the behavior of the employee. While issuing negative discipline is necessary, we must also maintain the motivation level of the employee. Issuing a warning letter directly could potentially damage the motivation level of the employee. Warning letters do not always effectively correct the behavior of delinquent employees. Instead, they often merely provide satisfaction to the management. Warning letters are a part of progressive discipline and lay the groundwork for employers to take tougher action if necessary.

Previously, I provided guidance on how to give feedback to the employee. You can refer to my earlier response by clicking the following link: https://www.citehr.com/459788-how-in...-employee.html

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

From your narration, it is understood that the person habitually engages in objectionable activities and is a problem creator. Management has not observed any improvement in his behavior or performance.

The letter of punishment awarding a salary deduction is not significant to such problem creators. Firstly, your letter does not specifically charge the nature of incidents 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., as occasional. Please narrate each incident very specifically and include the impact noted by HODs/management. Your action should aim for correction, with a letter of authority to improve or be ready for termination from services, making it clear that this is the last chance to save his job. He may straightaway refuse the contents of your letter and all charges, claiming that all he does is follow his boss's instructions, and nothing has been hinted at if that is true.

The communication language is also not forceful. The letter awarding punishment/warning should be very precise and skillfully drafted so that the delinquent employee is clear about management's intention.

Last but not least, before any such disciplinary action is taken, counseling should be done, and this should also be mentioned in any written communication with the employee.

Regards,

RDS Yadav

Director,

Future Instt. of Engineering and Management Technology

and

Labour Law Advisor

[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Let's be legally correct. If a warning letter is issued without conducting a domestic enquiry, the same will be treated as void by the court of law.

Using the phrase "strict disciplinary action will be taken" should be avoided. It implies that you have already decided on the action before the incident has occurred.

You have specified the legal position. However, I am not sure how accurate it is. Legal experts will provide their opinions on your post.

Warning Letter

A warning letter is defined as a formal document that informs an employee of the reasons why their behavior is unacceptable and, if it continues, may lead to the termination of their employment. Before an employee is given a warning letter, the employer should provide the employee with an opportunity to respond to the allegations of unacceptable conduct against them.

The definition mentions giving an opportunity to respond to the allegations of unacceptable behavior. However, this opportunity need not be a Domestic Enquiry. Workers or supervisors may make minor or major mistakes at their workplace, which could be intentional or unintentional. In such cases, managers often call them in for a verbal warning. If there is no change in behavior, the employee is sent to the HR department and issued a warning letter. In my previous post, I have written about feedback.

Many misconducts are minor in nature and do not merit conducting a domestic enquiry. Warning letters are issued for such misconduct, and the matter is closed. However, how is it possible to conduct a domestic enquiry for every misconduct? In that case, we would need an enquiry department adjacent to the production department or shop floor.

You have further written that the words 'strict disciplinary action will be taken' should be avoided. It implies that you have already decided on action before the incident has happened. However, I have seen the usage of phrases like "strict disciplinary action" in discipline-related correspondence of central and state governments.

As stated earlier, I request other seniors to give their opinions.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Disciplinary Process Overview

The normal practice in the disciplinary process is that the head of the concerned department sends a complaint letter to the HR Head, recommending the initiation of disciplinary action against the department's employee. Based on this, the HR Department first issues a Show Cause Notice to the employee, directing them to submit their written explanation within 48 hours. Upon receiving the explanation, the HR Department refers it to the concerned Head of Department for consideration and recommendation.

Based on the Head of Department's recommendation, in the case of a minor infraction, a Warning Memo is issued, cautioning the employee against repeating such misconduct in the future, and the file is closed.

However, in cases where the explanation is unsatisfactory and warrants a more severe punishment, such as a salary cut or suspension, an inquiry is conducted. The outcome and the report of the Inquiry Officer determine the punishment to be awarded.

[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Date: 30.x.16.

Purpose of Disciplinary Action

The intent and purpose of any disciplinary action is to address misconduct in such a manner that it does not recur in the future. However, it is not necessary that every disciplinary action should result in punishment. This means that all procedural formalities, such as calling for an explanation, framing of charges, instituting a domestic inquiry, issuing a second show-cause notice to the delinquent employee, and awarding proportionate punishment, are not always warranted.

One should not forget that, at times, charges of grave misconduct have to be simply dropped with a mere warning due to a lack of evidence, based on the idiom "no smoke without fire." However, a "warning" per se is not a punishment but a firm intimation of the employer's disapproval of the particular action or inaction of the employee for which an explanation was called for and considered.

Therefore, in my opinion, a letter of warning need not be issued after following all the procedures of a full-fledged disciplinary action. Since a "warning" is issued only after considering the reply of the delinquent and the mitigating circumstances, there is no harm in using strong phrases of caution and advice to the warned.

Thank you very much for inviting my comments in this thread.

What SHRIKANT_PRA said in his post #4, that if a warning letter is issued without conducting a domestic enquiry, it will be treated as void by a court of law, has no basis and is therefore incorrect. If he has any case law on this, he is requested to provide it here.

In fact, certain misconducts of a non-conforming nature can be tackled in many ways, such as counseling and warnings. In extreme cases, such as criminal breach of trust, theft, or fraud, the employer must initiate action against the delinquent employee by conducting a domestic enquiry. It is incorrect to say that no warning letter can be issued without a domestic enquiry.

In your post #2, you rightly said that the issuance of a warning letter lays the groundwork for employers to take further tough action. In your post #4, you once again made it clear that minor misconducts do not merit conducting a domestic enquiry. Warning letters are issued for such misconduct, and the matter is considered closed. You are completely correct in this regard.

If I am not mistaken, and if I remember correctly, the IE(SO) Act states that no enquiry shall be necessary to administer a warning or a fine (I am not sure).

A warning per se is not a punishment but a firm indication of the employer's disapproval of the particular action or inaction of the employee, as stated by Umakanthan Ji. A warning may also result from the outcome of a domestic enquiry. Generally, warning letters are not challenged in a court of law.

Regards

While the original poster has not responded, I noticed that the post says the employee protests against working on Friday, which indicates that the employee is in the Gulf region.

Therefore, the ID Act and other laws related to domestic inquiry do not apply to this incident.