Checklist: Discipline Documentation 

After a discipline session, you will want to make some documentation based on your notes. Use this checklist to make sure you include everything you need in your documentation.

Verbal Warning 

Be sure that all verbal warnings are documented in writing. They are a building block to more formal warnings in the future. All documentation should include:

• The employee's name
• The date of the verbal warning
• Tthe specific offense or rule violation
• a specific statement of the expected performance
• any explanation given by the employee or other information that is significant 

Example of verbal warning documentation

I talked to [employee] today about her attendance record and gave her a verbal warning. Since January 1, [employee] has been absent from work on 12 occasions for a total of 17 days. [The employee] response was, You can't make people work when they are sick, and she argued about the verbal warning. I told her that she could request a medical leave of absence if she needed it, but that I expected her to be here every day unless a doctor says otherwise.

[Signature]

[Date] 

Written Warning 

A written warning is more serious than a verbal warning and represents a progression in the progressive discipline process.

In documenting a written warning, include:

• The employee's name
• The date of the conversation
• The specific offense or rule violation
• References to previous conversations and verbal warnings about the problem
• A specific statement of the expected performance
• Any explanation given by the employee or other information that is significant
• A statement indicating your confidence in the employee s ability to perform properly in the future
• The employee s signature if the employee refuses, include a note on the signature line indicating your attempt to get the employee to sign and his/her refusal to do so.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH