Progressive Discipline Policy Considerations for Texas Employers–Texas Employment Law

Discipline Progressive disciplinary systems usually include a range of disciplinary measures, including:

• oral and written warnings

• probation

• suspension with or without pay

• disciplinary pay cuts (it is best to make this a token amount of one or two per cent – do not impose such a cut without a prior written warning – give notice of the cut in writing in order to reduce risk of a wage claim)

• demotion or reassignment • final warning • discharge Documentation is very important for use in justifying a personnel action and defending against claims and lawsuits

• The employee should get a copy, and a copy should go into the personnel file.

• Have the employee or a witness sign and date the warning, and have a company representative sign and date it as well. • The warning should clearly let the employee know what the next step will be if the problem continues.

• The employer should follow its own policy and prior warnings as closely as possible, unless there is a compelling reason not to do so; do not issue warnings until the company is ready to take action and mean it; warnings that are not enforced are even worse than completely ignoring a problem.

• Do not issue a “final warning” until and unless the company is ready to terminate the employee upon the very next occurrence of the problem that caused the warning to be issued

 

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