Progressive Discipline in employment operates in Puerto Rico, whether we agree or not. The important thing is to know how to make this situation work favorably in our company. Progressive discipline is a gradual process and you have to study and know it to apply it correctly.
Progressive Discipline
In practical terms, progressive discipline means that if your company wants to fire an employee without having to pay any additional compensation, such as the allowance, and without activating any possible presumption of discrimination, you have to give the employee the opportunity to correct their faults, Unless the fault is so significant that it jeopardizes and risks the operation of the company. Then the immediate dismissal proceeds.
The application of the concept can be better appreciated in cases of intermediate faults such as non-compliance with the assigned work or failures in attendance. To an employee who is, for the first time, failing in the execution of his work or in the assistance, your company cannot fire him from today for tomorrow without incurring responsibility. But you can initially discipline him lightly with a verbal warning. The intent of progressive discipline is to give the employee an opportunity to improve or correct unacceptable behavior.
Now, if the employee does not satisfactorily correct the behavior and continues to fail in the same, then the subsequent offenses of the same matter are progressively more severely disciplined, for example with a short suspension, a longer suspension, suspension of employment and salary. until dismissal.
As we see progressive discipline includes verbal reprimands, written reprimands, suspension of employment and salary, and, finally, dismissal. Disciplinary measures are taken because:
1) the company considers that the employee has not complied with the rules, regulations or company policy; or, 2) the company believes that the employee is not performing his duties according to established standards.
In order to impose progressive discipline on an employee who is not complying with the functions of his or her job, the rules, regulations, or policies of the company, it is important that the employee knows the functions of his or her job and the rules, regulations, or policies of the company and that the company can prove that this is the case. Therefore, it is important to have in the employee's file receipts signed by him stating that he received a copy of his description of duties and the rules, regulations and policies of the company.
If the company leaders do not apply progressive discipline, the omission may create legal liability for the company. This is because the burden of proof falls on the company in cases of discipline.
Just Cause to Discipline
An important concept in progressive discipline is that of just cause. Just cause what it means is that the managers of the company have to have a good reason to impose the discipline. The following questions will help you gauge how strong or weak the cause is for discipline:
1. Did the employee have enough warning about the probable consequences of his behavior?
2. Was the company's directive or order reasonably related to the effective and safe operation of the work?
3. Did the managers investigate before applying the disciplinary measure?
4. Was the investigation of the managers fair and objective?
5. Did the investigation produce substantial evidence or proof that the employee was guilty of the alleged fault?
6. Does the manager apply his norms, orders and penalties uniformly and without discrimination?
7. Is the rigor of the discipline related to the seriousness of the absence and to the service provided in the past by the employee? (Does "punishment with crime" fit?)
If the answer to one or more of these questions is "no," the company's just cause for the disciplinary decision is weak and needs to be reconsidered.
Insubordination
Insubordination is the refusal or refusal to carry out a direct order and proceeds from the imposition of progressive discipline or dismissal, depending on the consequences of the breached order. To maintain that an employee was insubordinate, the company must have (1) given a direct order to the employee, and (2) notified the employee of the consequence of not complying with the order. However, the imposition of disciplinary measures for insubordination has limits. There are orders that the employee would be right not to comply with and therefore should not be the basis of a disciplinary measure:
• Those that originate from race, social condition, color, political ideas, religious ideas, national origin, social origin, disability, marriage to another company employee, due to being a victim of domestic violence, religion, gender, or age of the employees.
• Those that hinder or discourage legal union activities.
• Those that punish the employee for not accepting tasks or risks potentially harmful to health or physical integrity, unless such tasks are the essence of their job description.
• Those that punish the employee for refusing an unlawful act.
When a disciplinary measure is unclear or not well established, there is a basis for the employee to challenge it and expose the company to liability. Therefore, a disciplinary measure of this nature must be reconsidered or consulted with a professional.
Progressive Discipline Management Form
The objectives of progressive discipline are corrective and positive in character; Many years ago, the leaders of the modern company rejected the notion of punishment. The purpose of imposing discipline is to correct, educate, encourage.
The punishment it produces are undesirable side effects such as apathy, absenteeism and fear of the supervisor.
Therefore, the way to administer progressive discipline without the burden of punishment is to present the situation in a positive-negative-positive sequence. In other words, the manager first makes a positive comment ("Your productivity is excellent, Juan"), followed by a negative comment ("Unfortunately, you did not take proper care of this valuable compressor and allowed it to be damaged and therefore the company He's making this verbal / written warning to correct the situation ") followed by a final positive comment (" Still, when it comes to precision on tough compressors, you're still the best in the department ").
The next step is for the manager and the employee to focus on the solution to the problem of the damaged compressor and on the precautionary measures that will avoid similar damages in the future.
Notification
It is important that the disciplined employee knows at all times the consequences of not correcting their conduct. Therefore, if it is a verbal warning, it is important that the manager express in writing that he or she gave a verbal warning to the employee, the date it was made and that he explained to the employee that if he did not correct his conduct in x time, he would proceed the imposition of a written warning. Proof of verbal warning must be signed by the employee.
In turn, if it is a written warning, it must express that if the behavior is not corrected in x time, another written warning will proceed and / or the suspension of employment and / or salary. A suspension of employment and / or salary must be notified to the employee with an expression of the day it will begin and the day it will end. In addition, it must include a warning to the effect that once returned to work, if the employee repeats the same type of absence, the dismissal will proceed.
Trends
Progressive discipline is aimed at improving the work environment, which in turn is closely related to encouraging employee participation.
There are many techniques to improve the work environment. One of the most popular originated decades ago in Japan and is called quality circles.
Quality circles are comprised of employees from the same work area, who meet regularly with their supervisor to identify and resolve work problems.
These circles provide an opportunity to receive input from employees in solving problems that affect their members. Socio-technical systems propose the structural change of human and work relationships that exist in an organization.
It is very common and desirable for employees to be involved in managing these changes. Technological advances are a source of alternatives to develop ways and forums where employees and managers make common cause.
