Documenting Employee Discipline

After you've investigated the situation and dealt with the employee, document the entire disciplinary process starting with the complaint or incident and ending with the final resolution or action taken. Document your reasons for taking any employment action, the fact-finding you did, and the actions that you took. This will help if your actions are ever challenged later, and can provide evidence that you acted in accordance with your own procedures. Here’s a sample form that illustrates the type of information that you should record.

Here's a package containing a group of documents for establishing and administering a progressive discipline plan.

Summaries are a good way to document disciplinary action where behavior is being tracked over an extended period of time. A summary is a written record of the events that led up to disciplinary action being taken, a description of the disciplinary action that was taken, and any future steps to be taken to ensure compliance or in the event of future infractions. Include specific details that illustrate the problem. Be sure that the employee’s version of events is included in the record, even if the employee disagrees with your version. If you can, get written statements from witnesses.