Labor relations do not always go smoothly. For various reasons, employees commit misconduct related to the performance of work duties. In this case, the employer applies disciplinary measures to the employee. Most often this is a remark or reprimand, but sometimes it comes to dismissal. There are other ways to punish a guilty staff member. The duration of a disciplinary sanction is one year if it is not withdrawn earlier, or the employee will not be subjected to another punishment.
What is disciplinary punishment?
In the process of labor activity, the employee is obliged to fulfill the duties assigned to him, to preserve the employer's property and to observe the established schedule. In case of non-compliance with these requirements, the employee is punished. The duration of the disciplinary sanction is one year, and it is imposed for the misconduct associated with work.
Disciplinary offenses include:
- failure to perform official duties;
- careless or incomplete performance of assigned work;
- non-compliance with the established work schedule - being late, absenteeism, leaving the workplace ahead of time;
- damage to the property of the employer;
- disclosure of trade secrets;
- violation of safety regulations regardless of the consequences;
- non-compliance with the instructions for using the equipment;
- refusal of advanced training or training, if it is provided for by the job description or the standard of the profession.
Depending on the sphere of activity and the characteristics of production, the procedure for applying disciplinary sanctions and the list of violations will also change. They must be compulsory spelled out both in the collective labor contract, and in individual instructions for posts and types of activity.
Types of disciplinary action
If we take labor legislation as a basis , then disciplinary sanctions include:
- dismissal;
- rebuke;
- comment.
It is in such a very simple wording that they should be included in the relevant order. Inexperienced personnel officers sometimes change their names, in this case the employee can appeal the order, indicating that only one of the list is a disciplinary sanction. And the commission on labor disputes in this case will be on the side of the staff.
What is not a disciplinary offense
Not all types of violations can be attributed to disciplinary offenses. Sometimes employees do not fulfill their duties for fear of punishment from management. It should be remembered that any labor function should be prescribed in the contract. Disciplinary sanctions include remarks and reprimands, and they apply for the violations already indicated.
It is not a disciplinary offense and is not subject to recovery:
- refusal of an employee to fulfill an employer's personal order;
- the employee’s disagreement to conduct community service, including absenteeism on subbotniks, demonstrations and rallies;
- refusal of additional work if this obligation is not specified in the contract;
- employee disagreement to perform actions contrary to law;
- refusal of any work not expressly prescribed in the employment contract;
- a strike if it is held in accordance with the law.
Penalty Procedure
Punishment of an employee requires compliance with clear rules. It has been mentioned above that disciplinary action is reprimand or comment. But the dismissal is not applied as often as other types, but it requires much more responsibility from the staff.
To comply with the law, the following procedure for disciplinary action is applied:
- Execution of documents proving the fact of misconduct. This is a time consuming but mandatory step. It is necessary not only to know about the violation, but also to be able to prove its fact. The testimony of two or more members of the labor collective, recording of surveillance cameras, written complaints of clients, and expert assessment can be used as a base. Be sure to draw up an act to detect or commit violations of labor discipline. An employee gets acquainted with him by signature.
- An explanatory note must be taken from the employee on whom the penalty will be imposed. This document is required for various reasons. The employee is given a chance to make excuses, and maybe the reason will be recognized as valid. Perhaps mitigation of punishment or the discovery of new facts. The employee may not give a written explanation. In case of his refusal, a corresponding act is drawn up.
- Drafting an order. He wears a free uniform. But for disciplinary action, dismissal is issued a unified order to terminate the employment contract.
- The signing of the order by the head and bringing it to the attention of the employee. If an employee refuses to leave a signature, it is necessary to draw up an act and make an appropriate note in the document.
It should be remembered that a disciplinary sanction is applied no later than six months after the commission of the violation and no later than a month from the date of its discovery. The calculation of this time does not include days of vacation, illness, business trips, and all other periods of time when the employee was absent from the workplace for a good reason. In addition, the time taken to consider the collection of documents by a representative body or trade union is taken into account.
It is important to know that one type of punishment may be imposed on the employee for one misconduct. It is unacceptable to first reprimand an employee for being late, and then dismiss him for him.
The collection documents are stored in a separate folder, away from other papers on personnel. The period of their storage is the same as the usual period of validity of the recovery, at the end of the action, all acts, letters, explanatory and memorandum and order shall be destroyed. You can attach copies to your personal file, but at the end they should be deleted.
Duration of disciplinary action
The duration of a disciplinary sanction is 12 months from the date of issuance of the order. If the employee commits another misconduct, then this period shall be extended until the time of the end of the latter.
An extreme measure of punishment for an employee is dismissal. In this case, the disciplinary action is unlimited and is not subject to cancellation by the administration. However, the labor dispute committee may terminate it and reinstate the employee. A dismissed employee can be re-admitted to the company in another unit and on other conditions, in which case he is considered to have no penalty.
Disciplinary action may be terminated early. However, it is not recommended to reduce it by less than six months.
Disciplinary order - what is the difference from other types of orders for personnel
The employee who committed the misconduct shall be subject to disciplinary action in the form of a remark, reprimand or, as a last resort, dismissal. Various documents are drawn up: protocols, acts, memos and explanatory notes, letters of complaint, etc. But the main order is.
Most personnel related documents are unified. They are reduced to a single form, for convenience and simplification of work. However, orders for reprimand or comment are issued freely. This is due to the fact that it is not possible to lead to a single view of all types of violations, they are specific to each organization.
Early withdrawal
Typically, the duration of a disciplinary sanction is one year. But it can be reduced:
- on the personal initiative of the employer;
- on the personal application of the employee;
- at the request of a trade union or other representative body;
- at the personal request of the immediate supervisor of the employee.
The employer may at any time apply the early withdrawal of disciplinary action. A sample order or order will be similar to other unified personnel documents.
An employee may request early withdrawal of a comment or reprimand. In this case, they write a memorandum and an application is attached. The same documents are drawn up by the trade union and the head of the unit. In case of early withdrawal, it will be considered that the employee did not have it. All supporting documents are destroyed.
Appeal against disciplinary action by staff
The employee has the full right to appeal the penalty. To do this, he should contact the district commission to resolve labor disputes. Further consideration of the case may be given to the prosecution authorities or the court. If the employer made gross errors in the paperwork, or ignored any stage, the court decision will be on the side of the employee. If the penalty is declared invalid, all documents about it shall be destroyed. If the employee was fired, then he is reinstated in his former position. At the same time, he is paid compensation for all days missed at work in the amount of average earnings.
Dismissal is an extreme measure of disciplinary punishment
Of the three types of disciplinary punishments, dismissal is unlimited and often irreversible. This measure of punishment is usually applied as a last resort, when the employee’s misconduct is incompatible with the further performance of his duties.
The misconduct leading to dismissal may include:
- a single gross violation of the prescribed labor discipline and the rules of the work schedule;
- absenteeism for no good reason;
- absence of an employee at the workplace for four or more hours without a good reason;
- actions that result in personal injury or death;
- damage to the employer's property , including those related to insufficient competence;
- theft at the workplace of both the property of the employer and other employees, in addition, in this case, a criminal case may be instituted on behalf of the enterprise;
- administrative offenses that do not directly affect the work, but worsen the image of the company;
- actions defaming the employer;
- distribution of confidential and confidential information;
- gross non-compliance with work ethics and subordination;
- direct refusal to perform the duties prescribed in the contract;
- participation in a strike without following the procedure prescribed by law.
When dismissing for misconduct or other guilty action, the employer should be as responsible as possible to the documentation. In this case, there is a clear conflict of interest, and the employee may consider such a punishment unlawful. In the event of violations of the penalty, he may be reinstated by the court or the labor inspectorate.
First of all, staff should prepare evidence confirming the guilt of the employee. These must be two or more members of the work collective, and they must be witnesses to the misconduct. Documented expert opinions will be helpful. You should also use any confirming misconduct, technical materials: recordings from surveillance cameras, auto-registration indicators, photos of the workplace with the date and time.
A written explanation of the misconduct must be requested from the employee. This document, together with others, is sent for consideration by the representative body. They must decide on the lawfulness of the sentence of dismissal.
The last document draws up an order or instruction, its form is unified. An appropriate entry is made in the workbook, with the wording of the labor code and a mandatory link to the article.
Consequences of disciplinary punishment for an employee and employer
All disciplinary measures cause personnel not only economic, but also psychological harm. After receiving the first comment, there may be a significant decrease in labor enthusiasm and an even greater deterioration in performance.
However, such a negative stimulus may have a positive effect in the future. The employee begins to take a more responsible attitude to the production process, monitors the working regime and improves his skills.
The employer should assume how this or that type of punishment will affect the production process. Do not punish employees for the slightest minor offense. Being late for a couple of minutes is an occasion to express dissatisfaction, but not so significant as to make an official reprimand. As a result, an employer who abuses punishment has a bad reputation on the labor market, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to find new employees.
Disciplinary action affects both the employee and the organization. Employees should understand that such an impact is often forced and almost always temporary. With further discipline, the duration of the sentence will be a year, or maybe less.