As organizational leaders, we have the complex task of managing the workforce, coaching and counseling, disciplining, and at times, discharging employees. Conflict resolution is never easy, but necessary, for the workforce, employee morale and the organization. Avoiding difficult discussions or not addressing employee relations issues, can and will impact the organization. We need to be consistent and fair for all employees, while providing a due process for discipline to potential discharge.
Below are 5 elements of due process:
- Expectations and Consequences: Communicating expectations, consequences and performance standards to the employee or workforce is the first step in the process. The write-up should document a performance problem, consequences of not meeting expectations and all metrics associated with the performance problem. Follow-up dates and action items are great to include in the first step.
- Consistency: We need to treat all workers with consistent and fair rules. If we discipline one employee for a performance issue, all employees with the same issue should be disciplined. Inconsistent practices can lead to legal issues, employee moral issues, turnover and internal conflict.
- The Discipline Must be Appropriate for the Offense: Review the “big picture” prior to making a decision on discipline and probable cause for termination.
- Employee Response: The employee should be given the opportunity to respond during any investigation or administration of discipline.
- Time to Improve Performance: If your organization is using progressive discipline, we do need to allow the employee time to improve performance. However, certain situations will dictate decisions regarding performance improvement plans and immediate termination. These situations need to be consistent and fair, throughout the organization.
Coaching and counseling, disciplining or terminating an employee is never an easy decision, but one that is necessary for the organization and rest of the workforce to grow and succeed. The definition of due process is an area we should design our policies and procedures around. Remember, as the employer, you have the right to change the policies. We need to ensure we communicate the changes to the workforce. Also, keep in mind Employment-At-Will doctrine, laws and regulations. This can vary, state to state and union versus non-union employers. Seek guidance if you need assistance on coaching, counseling, disciplining or terminating an employee. How we communicate the action/decision can have an impact.
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Published by Mathew W. Burr, MBA, MHRIR, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPHR
Matthew Burr has over eleven years of experience working in the human resources field, starting his career as an Industrial Relations Intern at Kennedy Valve Manufacturing to most recently founding and managing a human resource consulting company; Burr Consulting, LLC. Prior to founding the consulting firm, the majority of his career was spent in manufacturing and healthcare. He specializes in labor and employment law, conflict resolution, performance management, labor and employment relations. Matthew has a generalist background in HR and provides strategic HR services to his clients, focusing on small and medium sized organizations. In July 2017, Matthew started as an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Elmira College and was promoted into the Continuing Education & Business Administration Department Liaison role in July 2018. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate level business courses at Elmira College. Matthew is also the SHRM Certification Exam Instructor at the college, his students currently have an 80% pass rate on the SHRM-SCP and 92.3% pass rate on the SHRM-CP. Matthew works as a trainer Tompkins Cortland Community College, Corning Community College, Broome Community College and Penn State University. He also acts as an On-Call Mediator and Fact-Finder through the Public Employment Relations Board in New York State, working with public sector employers and labor unions.
Matthew has publications at the Cornell HR Review, Business Insider, New York State Bar Association, Expert 360 (in Australia). In early 2017, he published his first book, “$74,000 in 24 Months: How I killed my student loans (and you can too!).”
Matthew has an associate's degree in business administration from Tompkins Cortland Community College, a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Elmira College, a master's degree from the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations in Human Resources & Industrial Relations and a Master’s in Business Administration specializing in entrepreneurship from Syracuse University. He currently holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) and the Society of Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) certifications.
Matthew has been featured on CNN Money, Fast Company, Fits Small Business, Magnify Money, My Twin Tiers, Namely, Student Loan Hero, Smart Sheet and CEO Blog Nation.
View all posts by Mathew W. Burr, MBA, MHRIR, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CPHR