An employee warning notice form or write up form is useful for managers to record the incidents of the violation. So, whenever an employee violates the company’s disciplinary actions, the employee warning notice form records the details of violation for the legal record.
Although, it is the responsibility of the managers and supervisors to maintain discipline and decorum of the company. However, still, some employees violate the company disciplinary act. So, the HR team must ensure the implementation of appropriate disciplinary action to discourage another employee from doing the same act.
Further, it is not a please job for the managers and supervisors to do. However, they must fulfill the requirement of issuing a warning notice to the employee for multiple reasons.
The employee warning notice not only for record-keeping purposes. However, it alerts the employee about the issuance of a warning. So, the employee must know the act of violation and be careful next time to avoid termination.
An employee warning letter is one of the employee’s write up letters set. It may be followed by another one or two warning letters. But if the employee will keep on violating the company discipline. Finally, the termination later will be issued to the employee stating the background of violations and reference of warning letters.
However, the employee warning notice helps the managers to maintain the decorum of the department. So, employee turnover reduces and the workplace becomes more comfortable for remaining employees.
Thus, an HR policy of a company must make it standard practice for managers to issue warning notices whenever some violation of the workplace act happens.
What is an employee warning notice?
An employee warning notice is a formal document that describes an employees’ wrongdoing, such as failure to act on company policies, unskilled behavior, or lateness. These notices are used to address and confirm an employee’s performance or unsuitable behavior at work. Employers generally issue an employee warning form after a meeting with employees to discuss the issues. This thing provides a chance for the employees to correct their behavior moving forward.
When to use Employee Warning Notice?
Several reasons trigger the use of an employee warning letter at the workplace. However, the managers and supervisors need to understand exactly when to issue the warning letter.
A manager should issue a warning letter if the employee is unpunctual and show up excessive absences even after a verbal warning. Similarly, the act of refusal to obey the orders and unsatisfactory performance may also trigger the use of a warning letter.
However, some reasons are for sure to issue the warning letter immediately like sexual harassment or violation of company safety precaution in case of any pandemic.
Further, any other kind of violation of constitutional laws or company rules and regulations will also trigger the issuance of an employee warning notice after a thorough investigation.
Components of an Employee Warning Notice Form:
The employee warning letter is designed by the HR department. It is important to keep the focus on the purpose of the warning letter. Therefore, the required information is stated in the warning letter.
So, many companies try to include as much information as possible on the warning letter. Also, any legal step from the employee can be easily catered using a warning letter. Thus, the HR professionals prefer to include employee complete details, date of violation, type of violation, and details of occurrence on warning letter.
However, the letter must be issued on the company letterhead holding the signature of the HR manager and employee line manager for authentication.
How to write a warning letter to an employee?
Here are some tips for writing a warning letter to an employee;
- Your conversation with the employee should be kept private. It should be away from other employees. The conversation must be carried out in an office setting. Moreover, before delivering a warning letter it’s important to speak to the employee.
- You should deliver the letter as soon as something happens. If you want to be taken seriously, you must issue a warning and take effective measures. Waiting simply reduces the seriousness of warning and can take longer to sort out any damages.
- You must inform the employee what would happen if they fail to improve in the area that they have fallen behind.
- In the end, ask your employee to sign the letter. However, it’s not important but it confirms that the employees have confessed the warning and understand the results if they fail to redeem themselves.
What structure you should follow for a warning letter?
You should follow the below structure for the warning letter;
- Sender’s address: Write your address in the left-hand corner of the page.
- Recipient’s address: It must be written a few lines below the sender’s address.
- Date: Below the recipient’s address includes the official date of the letter.
- Subject line: Next, write the subject of your letter. It must be clear and to the point.
- Salutation: Standard letters follow formal salutations but here you are writing a letter to your employee that you speak on a daily basis so you can address him by his first name (e.g. Dear Smith).
- Opening paragraph: In this paragraph, you must get straight to the point of the letter. You should clearly explain the problem and reason for issuing the letter. In the first line, you have to include the particular details.
- Body: In the second paragraph, explain the action that is needed to correct the issue.
- Final paragraph: In the third paragraph, advise the employee what disciplinary action should follow.
- Closing: At the end, close your letter by stating a positive note which ensures that you still believe there is time for the employee to improve.
- Your name and signature: Sign the letter and also leave the space for the employee’s signature.
What is the significance of creating and giving out an employee warning notice?
Here are some important reasons why you should create and give out such a document;
- It isn’t appropriate to suddenly fire an employee when a mistake has been made. In case, the offense wasn’t that serious, the employee may take legal action against you. Instead of doing so, you should make an employee warning notice and send it to the employee. This notice shows them that you are aware of the offense and actions will be taken.
- When you give out such a document to the employee, it encourages them to start assessing themselves. After receiving such a notice, the employee starts thinking about the offense and thinks about what has to be done to improve the situation.
- Giving out an employee warning notice is considered the best initial corrective action that you can possibly take. This document informs the employee that a mistake he or she made is been noticed and noted.
- This document helps you to develop a good image of your company. Moreover, you may get less reputation than desirable when you fire employees frequently instead of warning them. Making and giving out such documents to the employee provide them the chance to improve themselves.
- Sending these notices indicates that you care for your employees. This way, they also realize their mistake and see that you actually had noticed them.
When and how to issue an employee warning notice?
You must know exactly when and how to give an employee warning notice to your employees when you are planning about it. Here are some helpful tips that help you when you find out your employee performs any kind of misconduct;
First, decide time when you give a warning to an employee. Before written warnings or notices are handed to an employee, employers typically give verbal warnings. The usual process involve the following;
- Verbal warning
- Written warning
- Final written warning
- Termination
In terms of disciplining employees, you should follow the policies and procedures of your organization. If you aren’t sure about the procedures then consult with your HR or someone with a higher position. This way, you make sure that you are following the right procedure.
Collect all information about the employee and the incident before you start to write the warning or will up the template. Also, you should have a conversation with the employee in order to understand better what other sources told you and what the person who had actually committed the offense tells you. When you have a conversation with an employee, you would also determine whether you have to actually written warning or just give a verbal one.
In large organizations, the employee has more than one supervisor, officer, or manager so it might not be clear who should be writing or issuing the warning. For this, go through the company policy to check who exactly should be handing out the notice. The direct supervisors are usually responsible to issue the warning to employees. However, sometimes the decision to issue a warning would be made in a group meeting.
If you are responsible for writing the notice then ensure that to include all the relevant information. You have to be very specific while writing the warning notice.
Make all your statements clear so that nothing will be interpreted in the wrong way. State everything clearly and well whether it is the incident, corrective actions, or consequences.
It would highly recommend issuing the warning to the employee personally. At the soonest possible time, arrange a private meeting with the employee. Talk about the offense and the consequences when you meet with the employee.
Try to give positive feedback because it would have a good effect on the employee as well as encourages them to improve their mistake immediately. This makes them more productive members of the workforce.
After making sure that the employee has understood everything, end the meeting. If the employee didn’t actually understand everything then it would be pointless to issue the warning. Additionally, both you and your employee have to affix the signatures on the document. Give the original copy of a document to the employee.
How do you deal with an employee who thinks they know everything?
Here are five steps to better handle the employees who think they are perfect;
- Reformulate the situation
- You should set up quantifiable boundaries.
- You have to provide consistent check-ins
- After completing their work tell them their mistakes.
- Don’t make an excuse for a reply.
Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
You should deliver a warning notice to an employee through email containing a subject line that shows the subject clearly. Also, you can arrange a meeting with the employee to give them a written document.
After issuing a warning notice to an employee, meet with them to know about their concerns and describe your desire to improve the situation. To maintain a positive outlook, you should praise them for improvements.
The number of warnings an employee receives varies from company to company. Some companies give one verbal warning before issuing a written warning. Some may use the three-strike method before terminating.
