Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Assignment No-1
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
Assignment No-1 1
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
What is discipline?
The term discipline refers to a condition in the organization when employees
conduct themselves in accordance with the organizations rules and standards of acceptable
behavior. For the most part employees discipline themselves. By that we mean that members
conform to what is considered proper behavior because they believe it is the right thing to do.
Once they are made aware of what is expected of them, and assuming they find these
standards or rules to be reasonable, they seek to meet those expectations.
But not all employees will accept the responsibility of self-discipline. These are
some employees for whom the motivational concepts are not enough to elicit the accepted
norms of responsible employee behavior. These employees will require some degree of
extrinsic disciplinary action. This extrinsic action is frequently labeled punishment.
1. Attendance
Assignment No-1 2
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
2. On-the-Job Behaviors
Second category of disciplinary problem covers on-the-job behaviors. This
blanket label includes insubordination, horseplay, fighting, gambling, failure to use safety
devices, carelessness, and two of the most widely discussed problems in organizations today-
abuse of alcohol and drugs.
Most of the above actions reflect direct infractions of organizations rules. For
instance, refusing to obey a boss’s orders, ignoring safety procedures, or being intoxicated on
the job are all behaviors that are usually expressly forbidden. As a result, these infractions are
rarely difficult to identify. Furthermore, because they represent a clear violation of an
organization’s acceptable standards of behavior, corrective action should be taken immediately.
In contrast to ambiguous infractions (such as taking an unnecessary sick-day leave), fighting,
gambling, or safety infractions represent clear rule violations.
3. Dishonesty
Assignment No-1 3
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
4. Outside Activities
Our final problem category covers activities that employees engage in outside of
their work, but which either effect their on-the-job performance or generally reflect negatively on
the organization’s image. Included here are unauthorized strike activities, having one’s wages
garnished, outside criminal activities, and working for a competing organization. Among
managerial personnel, this category would also include bad-mouthing the organization or
questioning the organization’s key values in public.
An individual may be on the job only forty hours a week, but that does not
exclude the organization from disciplining employees when their behavior off the job
embarrasses the organization.
The following nine contingency factors have been proposed to help us analyze a
discipline problem
2. Duration of the problem: Have there been other discipline problems in the past, and
over how long a time span? The violation does not take place in a vacuum. A first
occurrence is usually viewed differently that a third or fourth offence.
Assignment No-1 4
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
3. Frequency and nature of the problem: Is the current problem part of an emerging or
continuing pattern of discipline infractions? We are concern with not only the duration but
also the pattern of the problem. Continual infractions may require a different type of
discipline from that applied to isolated instances of misconduct.
4. Employee’s work history: How long has the employee worked for the organization, and
what has been the quality of his or her performance? For many violations, the
punishment will be less severe for those employees who have developed a strong track
record. Equity would suggest that a violation incurred by employee A, who has been with
the organization for three months, be treated differently form a similar violation incurred
by employee B, who has proved to be an excellent employee for more than twenty years
5. Extenuating factors: Are these extenuating circumstances related to the problem? The
student who fails to turn in her term paper by the deadline date because of the death of
her grandfather is likely to have her violation assessed more leniently than will her peer
who missed the deadline because she overslept.
7. History of the organization’s practices: How have similar infraction been dealt with in
the past within the department? Within the entire organization? Has there been
consistency in the application of discipline procedures? Equitable treatment of
employees must take into consideration precedents within the unit where the infraction
occurs, as well as previous disciplinary actions taken in other units within the
organization. Equity demands consistency against some relevant benchmark.
8. Implications for other employees: What impact will the discipline selected have on
other workers in the unit? There is a little point to taking a certain action against an
employee if it has a major dysfunctional effect on others within the unit. The end result
may be only to convert a narrow and single disciplinary problem into a widespread
headache for management.
Assignment No-1 5
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
The impact of a disciplinary action will be reduced as the time between the
infraction and the penalty’s implementation lengthens. The more quickly the
discipline follows the offence, the more likely it is that the employee will
associate the discipline with the offense rather than with the manager
imposing the discipline. As a result, it is best that the disciplinary process
begin as soon as possible after the violation is noticed. Of course, the desire
for immediacy should not result in undue haste. If all the facts are not in,
managers will often invoke a temporary suspension, pending a final decision
in the case.
Assignment No-1 6
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
The last guideline that follows from the “hot stove” rule is keep the discipline
impersonal. Penalties should be connected with a given violation, not with the
personality of the violator. That is discipline should be directed at what an
employee has done, not the employee herself. As a manager, we should
make it clear that we are avoiding personal judgment about the employee’s
character. We are penalizing the rule violation, not the individual. And all
employees committing the violation can be expected to be penalized.
Furthermore, once the penalty has been imposed, the manager must make
every effort to forget the incident. She should attempt to treat the employee in
the same manner as she had prior to the infraction.
Disciplinary Actions
Discipline generally follows a typical sequence of four steps: oral warning, written
warning, suspension, and dismissal. Two additional steps, which would logically follow
suspension- demotion and pay cuts-are less popular but are important enough to justify
discussion. These sis steps are discussed below
Oral Warning: The mildest form of discipline is the oral warning. This reprimand
is best achieved if completed in a private and informal environment. The manager
should begin by clearly informing the employee of the rule that has been violated and the
problem that this infraction has caused. For instance, if the employee has been late
several times, the manager would reiterate the organization’s rule that employees are to
be at their desks by 8.00 A.M., and then proceed to give specific evidence of how
violations of this rule has resulted in an increase in workload for others and has lowered
departmental morale. After the problem has been made clear, the manager should then
Assignment No-1 7
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
allow the employee to respond. Is she aware of the problem? Are there extenuating
circumstances that justify her behavior? What does she plan to do to correct her
behavior?
After the employee has been given the opportunity to make her case, the
manager must determine if the employee has proposed an adequate solution to the problem. If
this has not been done, then the manager should direct the discussion toward helping the
employee figure out ways to prevent the trouble from recurring. Once a solution has been
agreed upon, the manager should ensure that the employee understands what, if any, follow-up
action will be taken if the problem recurs.
If the oral warning is effective, further official disciplinary action can be avoided. If
the employee fails to improve, the manager will need to consider more severe action. A final
point on the oral earning: It is a good idea to make a temporary record of this reprimand and
place it in the employee’s file. It should state the purpose, date, and outcome of the interview
with the employee. Once the employee has demonstrated that she has corrected the problem,
the record of the oral reprimand can be removed from her file.
Written Warning: The second step in the progressive discipline is the written
warning. In effect it is the first formal stage of the discipline procedure. This is true
because the written warning becomes the part of the employee’s official file. This is
achieved by not only giving the warning to the employee but sending a copy to the
personnel department to be inserted in the employee’s permanent record. In all other
ways, however, the procedure preceding the writing of the warning is the same as the
oral warning. That is, the employee is advised of the violation, its effect, and potential
consequences of future violations. The only difference is that the discussion concludes
with the employee being told that a written warning will be issued. Then the manager
writes up the warning-stating the problem, the rule that has been violated, any
acknowledgement by the employee to correct her behavior, and the consequences from
a recurrence of the deviant behavior.
While written warnings are more severe, many organizations are allowing
employees to purge their personnel files of these warnings after a period of time (usually two
years of proper work behavior).
A suspension may be for one day or several weeks. Disciplinary layoffs in excess
of a month are rare. Some organizations skip this step completely because it can have negative
consequences for both the company and the employee. From the organizations perspective, a
Assignment No-1 8
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
suspension means the loss of the employee for the layoff period. If the person has a unique
skills or is a vital part of a complex process, her loss during the suspension period may severely
impact on her department or the organization’s performance if a suitable replacement can not
be located. From the employee’s standpoint, a suspension can result in the employee returning
in a more unpleasant and negative frame of mind than before the layoff.
Pay Cut: Another alternative, also rarely applied in practice, is cutting the
problem employee’s pay. Certainly, this approach usually has a demoralizing effect on the
employee, but it has been suggested as a rational action by management if the only other
alternative is dismissal.
Assignment No-1 9
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
only feasible alternative when an employee’s behavior is so bad as to seriously interface with a
department or the organization’s operation.
A dismissal decision should be given long and hard consideration. For almost all
individual, being fired from a job is an emotional trauma. For employees who have been with the
organization for many years and for those over fifty years of age, it may make it difficult to obtain
new employment or require the individual to undergo extensive retraining. In addition,
management should consider the possibility that a dismissed employee will take legal action to
fight the decision. Recent court cases indicate that juries are cautiously building a list of
conditions under which employees may not be lawfully discharged.
Employment-at-Will Doctrine
Background
Assignment No-1 10
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
Assignment No-1 11
Assignment on Disciplinary Action
lists of contacts, coaching in how to go out on interview, and advice on how to follow up on
leads and how to evaluate any job offers that are received.
Conclusion
We have considered a number of aspects regarding disciplining the
problem employee. Our discussion focused on a disciplinary process that was fair, equitable,
and consistently practiced. The typical progression of discipline moves from an oral warning, to
written warning, to suspension, and if necessary, to dismissal. Management might also consider
the use of demotion and pay cuts as an alternative to dismissal
Assignment No-1 12