How to conduct a disciplinary meeting

Conducting a disciplinary meeting isn’t always a straightforward process even for the most experienced business owner. Some businesses can feel really lost if it’s a process that they’re not familiar with and the whole process can feel daunting to some. This article will guide you through the process of conducting a disciplinary meeting to alleviate some of the stress we all face when having those tough conversations with our employees.

What is a disciplinary meeting?

The purpose of a disciplinary meeting is to discuss an area of alleged misconduct with an employee with the objective of resolving the matter.  At the end of the disciplinary meeting, the employee may be reprimanded through the issuance of either a verbal or written warning, depending on the severity of their misconduct.

Setting up the meeting

Before considering conducting a disciplinary meeting, employers should ensure they follow through with procedural fairness requirements. This means that prior to having this meeting you:

• invite the employee in writing to attend the meeting;
• give the employee 24 hours’ notice in advance of the meeting;
• invite the employee to bring a support person if they would like to.

If an employee does elect to bring a support person with them, don’t be frightened. The purpose of a support person isn’t to advocate on the employee’s behalf but rather provide the employee with emotional support throughout the process. Remember, this process is just as daunting to an employee as it is for you! On that note, it’s also a good idea for you to bring a support person to the meeting to act as an impartial witness to the discussion to take notes. This could be another manager of your business.

It’s always a good idea to be prepared for the meeting and it’s never overkill to also prepare a script in anticipation of the matters you intend to raise during the meeting. The script that you use doesn’t need to be word for word dialogue of what you intend to say but you can at least use it as a tool to guide you through the main points you want to discuss in the disciplinary meeting.

Starting the meeting

At the beginning of the meeting, it’s always best practice to outline that the meeting and any discussions within the meeting are strictly confidential. This makes it clear that anything you and the employee discuss in the meeting is not to be discussed outside of the room, expect for the fact that the employee can discuss this with their immediate family and support person.

Once you have made reference to the confidential nature of the meeting, it’s now time to move into what the meeting is about. This is where you take the opportunity to outline the purpose of the meeting and to put your concerns forward to the employee. It’s really in this stage you need to convey what the misconduct is and why this is considered misconduct.

Encourage a response

Once you have outlined your concerns to the employee, it’s important to give the employee the opportunity to respond to these concerns. Sometimes things may not always be as it seems and there may be a completely appropriate reason why the employee engaged in the alleged misconduct.

Once the employee has given you a response to the matters you have raised in the meeting it’s then always best practice to take a break in the meeting to consider the employee’s responses. Depending on the severity of the matter, this break could be as little as 15 minutes or extend to 1 full day if necessary.

Return with a decision

Depending on the employee’s response, you now have to determine what the outcome will be.  The consequence could be a verbal warning, a written warning, a first and final warning or alternatively no consequence at all if this is warranted.

When you reconvene the meeting, you’ll communicate your decision to the employee. If you decide that a formal written warning is appropriate in the circumstances, don’t stress – you don’t need to provide the employee with the written warning on the same day. Simply communicate to the employee that the warning will be provided to them in due course.

In fact, it’s always best to prepare the warning after an outcome has been determined in the meeting to not only ensure that the warning letter truly reflects what was discussed in the meeting but also to demonstrate that you didn’t enter the meeting with a predetermined outcome in mind.

Conducting a disciplinary process isn’t always an easy task, but if you make sure you follow the steps outlined above, you’ll be assured that you’re at the very least following the proper procedural requirements.

Don’t let a poorly handled termination come back to bite you.

Follow best-practice processes, and seek professional advice when you’re not sure of something, and you’ll be setting yourself (and your business) up for the best possible outcome. Citation HR can ensure you follow the above process seamlessly every time – reducing your risk. With our industry-leading software containing hundreds of best practice templates, guides, workflows and processes paired with our 24/7 HR Advice line, you’ll be able to tackle any HR issue with confidence. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation chat about your workplace compliance.