How to Write Up an Employee Using These Unique Resources

A Collection of Tips To Help When You Need to Write Up an Employee

One of the worst tasks a manager has is writing up an employee. Many managers will put off the write-up when possible. It’s never easy. At the same time, it’s necessary. Especially when you have fair workplace policies in place.

Many times you’ll have a very hard-working, dedicated employee that makes a mistake. Even though you want to let the violation go, you can’t because you can’t play favorites in the workplace, and at times like this, it’s hard to write up one of your key employees.

In this article, you’ll find tips and insights that make the process of writing up an employee seem effortless. To ensure everyone is treated fairly, you want to make sure you have strict and clear policies in place. And you want to make these policies accessible to your employees and make sure they understand the procedures.

Understand the law

To effectively write up an employee, you need to understand the employment laws. The last thing you need is a lawsuit on your hands because of the way you disciplined and employee. It makes much more sense to understand the law and create policies that abide by the law. The laws will vary depending on the country, state, or province where your business operates.

Keep It Confidential

It’s essential to keep your write-up confidential. By keeping the disciplinary action confidential, you are respecting your employee. Imagine if you received a write-up, would you want your boss to talk about it with others?

Present In Private

Issue a write-up in a private area. You don’t want coworkers witnessing the write-up. People will gossip about the issues, and the employee may be embarrassed, which worsens the disciplinary action. Rather than the employee understanding and accepting the disciplinary action, they are more focused on the way it was presented and may file a complaint against you.

Don’t Rush It

When you’re ready to present a write-up, you want to make time for it. Even though you want to get it over with as soon as possible. You need to take the time necessary to go through the process and explain the reasons for the disciplinary action.

Do it alone or with another manager

Should you present the write-up alone or have someone present? Depending on the violation, you may want to have someone present. It should not be another employee but can be another manager. Having another manager present for major violations allows for someone to witness the discussion in the event of the escalation to HR or the labor board.

Clear Documentation

Your document must be clear and precise. Include the nature of the violation. The date it occurred and how it violates company policy. Don’t include other issues, stick to the current violation, and document in a concise manner.

Going Through The Write-up Process

At this point, you’re ready to present the write-up to your employee. As mentioned above, you will be in a private area. You have scheduled sufficient time. You may have another manager or HR present. Start by telling the employee this in regards to the issue that occurred. State the issue. Explain how it affects the company and workforce and, in conclusion, stress how it can not happen again.

Below is an example of a conversation during a write-up:

Janice processed an invoice without verifying the order’s contents, and it shipped to the customer missing an item. To begin, you have Janice come to the conference room.

Hi Janice, Thanks for coming in. Have a seat. Bill will be here sitting in on this meeting. I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes regarding the order you processed on June 15th during your shift.

The order was processed and shipped without your verification. The customer received the order, and it was missing the free battery that comes with the drill. The customer called and complained, specifying that he only placed the order because of the promotion for the free battery and that he would like to return his order.

We were able to ship him the battery and offer a 50 dollar gift certificate to rectify the situation. Our customer service is one of the best in the industry, and we want to keep it that way.

By having a process in place, we ensure we keep our standards high. Every employee should be processing orders according to the policy. We spoke briefly last week about how you were in a hurry and didn’t check the order.

I want to make sure moving forward that checking each order you process is verified. We have a company checklist. Please make sure you use it moving forward with all orders you process and hand in your checklist every day at the end of your shift. As per our management policy, a violation such as this one requires a disciplinary notice. I have documented the incident. Please review it. Write in any comments you have and sign it.

Are there any issues concerning this incident you would like to add? No? Okay, I trust moving forward, this issue will not reoccur.

Thank you, Janice, go ahead and return to work.

As you can see, from the above example, it was to the point. It identified the core issues—the effects of the error and stating that it shouldn’t happen again. The employee was allowed to add anything she wanted to say.

Follow up

You have done your part to prepare the documentation for the write-up, you have met with the employee, and your job is almost complete.

Next, you want to follow up to make sure the issues have been resolved, and the error won’t happen again. In this case, you want to check over the daily checklist Janice fills in and have a quick conversation to make sure the issue is resolved.

Resources

Next, in this post, you’ll find a collection of articles that dive into the many issues concerning employee discipline.

Resources

Employee Write Up Laws

In this section, you’ll have access to the articles offering tips on the labor laws regarding disciplinary action.

As mentioned earlier in this post, if you are going to process write-ups correctly, you need to understand the rules.

Without an understanding of the law, you might write up and terminate an employee only to find you have a lawsuit on your hands due to wrongful termination.

Federal Labor Laws Regarding Discipline & Termination | Small Business – Chron.com

The Quick Guide to Employee Discipline: What Every Manager Needs to Know – When I Work

Your Guide to Employee Discipline and Termination

Employee Write Up Forms

See our article on employee write-up forms for a collection of templates that can ease the complexity of creating a company-wide disciplinary notice that is legal and versatile. Employee Write Up Forms – Here’s What You Need To Know

Valid Reasons To Write Up An Employee

See my article that goes over legitimate reasons for writing up an employee. This is vital because you must follow the labor laws, and to follow the regulations, you need to have a valid reason for the disciplinary action. You can’t write up an employee because you feel like it or don’t like the person.

See the following post to gain a better understanding of valid reasons for disciplinary action. Here Are The Valid Reasons to Write Up An Employee

How To Write Up an Employee – Various Reasons and Examples:

In the following sections, you’ll find articles that provide insights on how to write up an employee for specific violations, including; being late, for having a bad attitude, for issues dealing with employee performance, etc.

Using examples from the following articles will help you create templates you can use when you discipline your employees.

News

YouTube

Videos Related to Employee Discipline

A Collection of Tips To Help When You Need to Write Up an Employee

Resources

Employee Write Up Laws

Employee Write Up Forms

Valid Reasons To Write Up An Employee

How To Write Up an Employee – Various Reasons and Examples:

How To Write Up An Employee For Being Late

How To Write A Verbal Warning To An Employee

How To Write Up An Employee For A Bad Attitude

How To Write Up An Employee For Insubordination

How To Write Up An Employee For Poor Performance

Courses

Books

News

YouTube