Dealing with an Arrogant Permanent Worker: Should I Punish or Dismiss Them?

Dear sir,

I have a small factory with 12 workers - 2 permanent and 10 temporary (employed for less than 240 days in a year). The issue I am facing is that one of the permanent workers is displaying arrogance towards me and the temporary workers. He refuses to listen to me or the manager. He has been a permanent worker for over 8 years, and prior to that, he was a temporary worker for 5 years.

How should I address this situation, whether through punishment or dismissal?

Regards

He is also disrupting work very often, like breaking the drive chain in machinery and putting stones into the machine. I have warned him many times, but he is not listening.

"Arrogance" is a state of mind exhibited in a negative style even during the course of one's normal behavior. At times, indifference can be mistaken for arrogance. So, avoid being judgmental as an employer. Look into the specific actions of the employee in a given situation and assess the presence of behavior in total disregard of instructions or general rules of conduct pertaining to the workplace. If it is so, take formal disciplinary action against him by following the principles of Natural Justice and award any punishment proportionate to the gravity of the proven misconduct.

Natural Justice and Disciplinary Action

Follow the rules of natural justice. Issue a memo and take disciplinary action against him. Since you have an apparent bias, keep yourself out of the chain of disciplinary action. One needs to segregate arrogance and other harmful actions of indiscipline on the factory floor. Arrogance is a state of mind of an insecure man. Putting stones in the machines and breaking the chain of the machine, if proven, are serious offenses and can even lead to imprisonment for the destruction of factory property. Please check out all details, conduct a full-fledged investigation, and act accordingly. Natural justice is the key.

Damage to company property is tantamount to severe disciplinary action. Follow the rules of natural justice and initiate disciplinary proceedings.

Disciplinary Action Steps for Addressing Misconduct

As the "Employer," you can take the following disciplinary action steps to ascertain the "truth" in respect of acts of misconduct alleged against the "delinquent employee":

1. Frame a proper show-cause notice/charge-sheet which should contain/include:
a) Date,
b) Time,
c) Place of occurrence of the alleged acts of misconduct as reported, and
d) Some details of the alleged/reported acts of misconduct.
(For these basic data, either you yourself or others who were subjected to reported/communicated verbally, perhaps, acts of misconduct may write the complaints and/or reports for records to be examined later during enquiry proceedings.)

2. Issue the show-cause notice/letter or the charge-sheet to the delinquent employee for his information, advising him in the letter/charge-sheet itself to "submit his written reply/written explanation in his defense, within two or three working days (as stated in the set of/codified service rules) informing him that on the receipt of his reply-in-defense, an enquiry (domestic/internal/managerial as is commonly known) shall be held by an enquiry officer in accordance with the twin principles of natural justice and the prescribed procedures for such internal enquiries and on completion of which necessary disciplinary action shall be taken."

3. Appoint an enquiry officer who should be well-versed with principles of natural justice and examination or cross-examination opportunity, etc., who should inform the delinquent employee in writing about the date, time, place/venue of the inquiry and commence, conduct, and conclude enquiry proceedings expeditiously in an unbiased/unprejudiced manner, being fair, just, and proper throughout.

4. Based on the enquiry report with definite and conclusive findings, take necessary disciplinary action including proportionate punishment.

Wishing you confidence & success.

Regards, Harsh K Sharan
Kritarth Consulting Team, Bengaluru Service Delivery Centre, 15.5.2020

Dear colleague,

Before taking any disciplinary action, the following is suggested:

* Have a face-to-face talk with him to understand what makes him behave arrogantly. Surely, he did not behave like this from day one, and it is the outburst of some deep-rooted suppressed feelings against you. Also, try to understand what he is seeking to gain.

* Arrogance is displaying defiance to authority or disrespect for the normal rules of discipline/behavior. It is an "I don't care" attitude. He has picked this up on the job by nursing some unresolved mental conflict.

* Convey to him that if something is of genuine concern, it will be looked into, but he should refrain from resorting to destructive acts. If he does not, disciplinary action will have to be taken. Allow him to reflect and come up with thoughts on what needs to be done to smooth things out.

* If he has a genuine grievance, try to sort it out.

* This approach is suggested as yours is a small team, and it may get sorted out through heart-to-heart talk.

* If he does not show any positive change, suspend him forthwith, followed by the chargesheet and domestic enquiry as properly advised by the local labor law expert.

* You may also explore the option of buying him out with some monetary gains and have him leave the organization, if you consider it fitting.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant