How do I Counsel Employees for Misconduct or Rule Violations?

Most organizations have two counseling tracks: One is for performance problems (see Performance Management); the other is for rule violations and other misconduct.

Counseling for rule violations or other misconduct begins immediately with a verbal or written warning, depending on the nature of the infraction. Sometimes an employee is suspended without pay for a period of time to rethink his behavior. A repetition of the rule violation thereafter is followed immediately by termination. Where the misbehavior is very serious, there may be no effort in counseling—the employee may be fired immediately. Termination may actually be the first step and not the last step in disciplining a rule violator—for instance, in the case of violation of safety rules or theft.

The counseling process may consist of four or five steps:

  • Step 1. Issue a verbal warning.
  • Step 2. Issue a written warning.
  • Step 3. Reprimand the employee.
  • Step 4. Suspend the employee.
  • Step 5. Terminate the employee.

Tell Me More

Disciplinary counseling is dependent on the nature of the misconduct. Depending on the rule violation, the employee’s past work history, and attitude immediately after the event, the counseling process can unfold in four or five steps:

Step 1. Issue a verbal warning. The verbal warning is usually used when the misconduct is minor or it is the employee’s first offense. It lets the employee know that you are aware of what he has done and that you expect him not to repeat the offense. Chronic tardiness or absenteeism may be included in the category of a minor offense or it may be treated as a performance issue, depending upon the corporate policy.

Step 2. Issue a written warning. If the verbal warning isn’t heeded or the offense demands more than a verbal warning, then you might want to issue a written warning in memo form. A copy is given to the employee and one is placed in his or her personnel file.

Step 3. Reprimand the employee. Often, this action will be taken by the Human Resources Department. The message here should be clear to the employee: Another repeat of the incident, and the employee will be suspended or terminated, depending on the nature of the offense.

Step 4. Suspend the employee. This action is taken in the event of repeated misconduct or a serious offense. Sometimes the employee is paid while he is away from work, sometimes he is not—the nature of the situation often determines that. The employee is expected to use the time away from work to do some soul searching about his desire to stay with the firm and, as an integral part of that, his future conduct.

Step 5. Terminate the employee. If the problem still continues, then the employee is terminated.