Employees are expected to follow the policies and procedures that employers set. When they don’t, they may be written up as a way to state the problem, document the punishment and outline consequences if the same thing happens again.
Write-ups serve several purposes, including internally tracking the issues that employees have and ensuring that situations are handled consistently and fairly. Without having proper documentation, it can become difficult to prove how and when issues are handled. Those facts are important if an employee makes claims against an employer related to write-ups or terminations.
What should a proper write-up include?
A proper write-up will clearly identify the employee, date, time, location and all other pertinent information for the event. It should include what happened, including any circumstances related to the issue and any corrective actions taken by the employer. All the information can show that the employer provided the employee a chance to correct the behavior and avoid it in the future.
When will a write-up protect the company?
An employee may make claims about wrongful termination or discrimination, but the employer may be able to combat those claims by showing the write-ups in the employee’s record. As long as the employer was consistent with disciplinary actions for any employee violating the regulation, the write-ups can provide the employer with solid evidence that there wasn’t anything nefarious going on with the employee who filed the claim.
Cases that pit employees against their employers can be complex. It’s best to have someone on your side who can protect your company. This can include exploring the available options and determining a course of action to address the complaint.
