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About this lesson

Turn negative into positive by giving meaningful and effective written feedback on poor employee performance.

Quick reference

Disciplinary & Warning Letters

Formal letters of reprimand are issued when an employee breaks an organizational rule or performs below standard.

When to use

Use this section to know the process for issuing disciplinary letters, and how they should be structured.

Main Points

Purpose

Disciplinary letters are issued to explain how negative actions affect the organization and the quality of the employee's work.

They outline the consequences of negative behavior and let the employee know how to avoid more serious disciplinary measures in the future.

Documenting these warnings helps managers keep track of incidents, and ensures balance and consistency.

Checklist

  • Should be written in the style of a memorandum
  • Should be concise and specific
  • Should clearly state what the expectation was, versus what actually happened
  • Should give the individual a chance to correct the behavior
  • Should offer practical help or advice
  • Should include an Acknowledgement of Receipt which the employee signs and which is retained on file
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  • 00:04 The purpose of disciplinary letters is to help employees understand how their
  • 00:09 negative action impacts the company and their work.
  • 00:12 We also want to let them know what the consequences are.
  • 00:16 And what they can do to avoid more serious disciplinary actions.
  • 00:22 Documenting employees warning notices also helps you to keep track of actions so
  • 00:27 that you're balanced and consistent in providing progressive disciplinary action.
  • 00:33 A disciplinary or
  • 00:34 warning letter is usually written in the format of a memorandum.
  • 00:39 As with commendation letters, you should be specific.
  • 00:44 And if it's a performance issue, you should state what
  • 00:47 level of performance was expected, and what level the agent achieved.
  • 00:52 If it was a behavioral issue, outline a specific incident or incidents that
  • 00:57 show how or when the employee made a mistake, or engaged in misconduct at work.
  • 01:02 And how that violated company policy.
  • 01:05 Unless the action included gross misconduct such as illegal activity or
  • 01:10 something else that warrants termination on the first offense,
  • 01:14 the employee is usually given an opportunity to correct the behavior.
  • 01:18 And is warned about what could happen if there's a repeat.
  • 01:22 Practical advice and support should be offered.
  • 01:25 And this must also be documented in the letter.
  • 01:29 The manager should meet with the employee face to face to discuss all these points
  • 01:33 before issuing the letter.
  • 01:35 And it's important that the manager have the employee sign, the written warning,
  • 01:40 to indicate that they understand the warning.
  • 01:43 It doesn't mean that they agree with the action that's taken, but
  • 01:46 it forms a record that the meeting did take place.
  • 01:50 One copy of the warning should be placed on the employee's file.
  • 01:54 And another copy given to the employee.
  • 01:58 So here's the template.
  • 02:01 It's a memorandum.
  • 02:03 And it should have the header block.
  • 02:06 There's no salutation necessary in the memorandum format.
  • 02:09 And then as usual, we start with the purpose of the warning,
  • 02:13 state the specific issue, and why it's a problem.
  • 02:17 We should also state the expectations, and the next steps.
  • 02:22 The final part of the letter is to offer your help or your support.
  • 02:28 After closing the letter, there's the acknowledgement of receipt,
  • 02:33 which the employee signs.
  • 02:35 This is the copy that's retained and placed on the employees personnel file.

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