When it comes to discipline, consistency in practice is essential!

One of my clients terminated an employee for excessive absences. The employee sued the company and stated that there were other employees that worked for the company that had just as many absences and that they had not been terminated. The company did an audit and the employee was correct. In addition to the time and finances that this dispute cost the company, the company also had to give the employee’s job back and provide the employee with back pay for all of the time between the date the employee was terminated and rehired, plus penalties. Additionally, the company had to hire back any employee that was terminated for the equivalent amount of absences in the last 12 months and pay them back pay as well.

This could have been avoided. If there was consistency in practice the employee would have lost the case. Specifically, if the employee was terminated for missing 120 hours of work and the company was able to show that any employee that had missed 120 hours of work was disciplined and terminated then they would have proved that all employees were held to the same standard and won the case. 

When it comes to discipline, consistency in practice is essential!

Ultimately, the steps that you take to ensure consistency in practice are preemptive steps to reduce risk and liability to your company for future litigation. Extra scrutiny should be taken in the event that you feel the need to terminate an employee to ensure that consistency in practice was adhered to. You should ask yourself:

1. Do you feel comfortable that you will be able to prove, with evidence, that the employee violated a rule, or a standard of performance was not met, and that you have treated other similar situations with the same level of discipline in similar circumstances?
2. Have you disciplined others for this same general rule violation or performance deficiency?
3. Have you failed to discipline anyone for the same general rule violation or performance deficiency, even though some other employees may have been disciplined for it?
4. Have you failed to discipline anyone for the same general rule violation or performance deficiency, even though some other employees may have been disciplined for it?
5. Has the level of discipline imposed been substantially the same for the same violation or performance deficiency for other employees?
6. Have you spoken to and documented the low performance with the employee?

Additionally, there are a few actions you can take to ensure there is consistency in your disciplinary practices including:

1. Keeping proper documentation of coaching conversations, written disciplines, and performance evaluations.
2. Implement written policies highlighting consequences for specific behaviors. This can be specific, i.e. if you miss 40 hours of work in a three-month period you will receive a written warning or more broad, i.e. failure to report to work on time, as scheduled may lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
3. Provide all people managers training to ensure that they understand how to be consistent in practice as well as the company’s policies, procedures, guidelines, code of conduct, and employee guidebook.
4. Conduct an investigation prior to determining any action to understand exactly what happened and who was involved. This will ensure that proper action is taken against all parties involved and that no employee was singled out.

Like my client, many employers have found themselves on the receiving end of a court order forcing them to reinstate employees who have been terminated due to inconsistent application of discipline. Following these best practices to ensuring consistency in practice will help you avoid this costly mistake.