The
sensible way to fire an at will employee...
Have you had difficulty crafting a discipline letter
for staff? Do you wish to find help to create an appropriate
letter? We believe we can help you. The letter has
to do several things, but most of all it must clearly
define the infraction, and how the company plans to
respond.
Discipline Letter Sample
Date
Employee Name
Address
City, State, Zip
RE: Infraction Detail
This letter serves as written notice to [name]. We
have made the decision to take disciplinary action
regarding [this situation].
At this point in the letter, it is good to explain
what action management has taken previously. This sample
discipline letter should clearly define the prior issues
with the employee and then spell out the disciplinary
action taken in the second paragraph.
We have decided to suspend [name] without pay for
the period of one week. The suspension will go into
effect immediately.
Our sincere hope is that this suspension is met with
reconciliation on the part of the employee. We should
not have to warn the next step of action will be termination.
You have the right to appeal this decision. If you
have questions about this disciplinary action, please
contact the Human Resources Department.
Sincerely,
(Manager’s Signature)
Drafting Sample Employee Discipline Letter
It is important to remember a court can use the letter
as legal evidence in the future, so it is important
to draft a copy and have someone else in the human
resource department review it. It is helpful to have
templates ready ahead of time that management has drafted
and reviewed with the help of legal counsel.
The sample employee discipline letter we provided
is a guide. The idea behind the discipline letter is
to provide a paper trail for future reference. If the
employee’s behavior does not improve, then managers
can use this invaluable documentation to clarify the
procedures taken to warn the employee that they may
lose their job if they did not change.
The manager should mail the sample employee discipline
letter to an employee or hand it to them directly.
If you choose to mail the letter to the employee, then
be certain you use certified mail. You do not want
the employee claiming they did not receive the letter,
in case further action has to be done. It may even
be wise to include a receipt notice that they have
to sign and return to the human resource office. In
this way, a business owner or manager eliminates liability
on their part and can hold the employee solely responsibility
for any future missteps.
How
to fire and discipline a problem employee. Includes
sample employee discipline letters
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