What are employment disciplinary action forms?

Employers use disciplinary action forms to notify employees when they fail to meet company expectations or policy standards.

These forms usually document an offence that an employee committed and the measures that you will take as an employer. By following established procedures, you may help ensure fairness and consistency in disciplinary matters and demonstrate that your organisation can handle them professionally.

Keeping records of offences and actions helps support future disciplinary decisions. Consider explaining the disciplinary process to employees when they join your company, perhaps through an employee handbook or policy, so they understand the steps involved.

Guidance on carrying out disciplinary action

Before taking disciplinary action, consider investigating the issue thoroughly and gathering evidence to ensure the disciplinary process is fair. Your investigation may involve speaking with witnesses and reviewing relevant documents. These are the initial steps you may take before taking action:

• Identify the issue or misconduct
• Gather all relevant facts and documentation
• Determine whether the issue violates company policy
• Decide on the appropriate disciplinary action

After these steps have been taken, discuss the concerns with the employee and provide support to help them improve their performance or address any underlying issues. Employees may also have to prepare for disciplinary meetings by organising their response and gathering relevant information.

1. Give a verbal warning of violation

In the case of safety violations, absenteeism, performance or quality issues, late arrivals, inappropriate conduct and procedure/policy violations or other forms of misconduct, it may be appropriate to first give employees a verbal warning, depending on the severity of the offence.

Employees can be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative during disciplinary meetings, but not during an informal chat or an initial meeting where the employer tries to find out what happened. Notify the employee of their misconduct immediately and suggest ways they can correct the violations.

2. Give written notice of violation

An employment disciplinary action form may be necessary if an employee cannot correct their misconduct and repeats the violation. Immediately notify the employee of the violation, expected improvements and the consequences of failing to take corrective action.

Employees also have to be informed of their right to appeal disciplinary decisions. Written notice typically includes clear instructions on how to initiate the appeals process.

3. Conduct an employee review or serious disciplinary action for gross misconduct

This stage typically follows a third violation, occurring after the employee has already received verbal and written warnings. Serious offences such as gross misconduct, including theft or breach of a code of conduct may result in dismissal. Disciplinary actions of this category could include things like suspension from work without pay or even employment termination for serious violations.

4. Follow up employee reviews with a disciplinary hearing

You may need to conduct a hearing if you are about to decide on employee dismissal or other serious disciplinary actions as a result of misconduct. At the end of the process, the employer may have to carefully decide on the appropriate disciplinary action after the hearing.

What to include on employment disciplinary action forms

An employment disciplinary action form has all the pertinent details about an employee and the issue requiring disciplinary action. Items on the form may include:

• The name of the employee and the date of the write-up.
• An explicit statement about the issue that caused the disciplinary action for easier future reference.
• A history of previous warnings to justify the need for more serious disciplinary action.
• A logical explanation of the employee’s misconduct or lack of performance in detail, including any proof available, the date of violation and additional information about the employee’s behaviour or performance.
• A deadline for the employee to take corrective action, including the changes you expect to observe and the date you will check for complete actions.
• Space for employee comments and a signature confirming they received the form, understood the misconduct and acknowledge the potential for further action.
• The name and signature of the employee’s supervisor or direct manager.
• The disciplinary decision made and any right to appeal.

Official letters, such as warning letters, are important for documenting disciplinary actions and ensuring transparency in the process.

Proper documentation could help protect both you and your employee in the event of an employment tribunal, as it provides evidence that disciplinary procedures were followed correctly.

Employment disciplinary action form template

Here’s an employment disciplinary action form template you could use:

Name of employee:

Date:

Department:

Supervisor or direct manager:

Reason for disciplinary action: [Describe what happened, including details of the incident or behaviour.]

You are hereby notified of your [description of policy violation including any proof available, date of violation and additional information about the employee’s behaviour or performance].

You are required to [type of corrective action and deadline] to improve your behaviour, and failure to do so may result in more disciplinary action, including termination of your employment contract.

Name of supervisor: __ Signature******__******_

Date: ************_

I have confirmed my behaviour and the subsequent disciplinary action. More disciplinary action may be taken, including termination of employment in the event of future violations.

Signature of employee: ********************************_

Date: ************_

Signature of HR representative: **************_

Date: ************_

Employment disciplinary action form sample

Here’s a sample employment disciplinary action form example that you may use as a guide when creating your own:

Name of employee: Janett Smith

Date: 1/4/2025

Department: Social media management

Supervisor or direct manager: Carolyn Davis

Reason for disciplinary action: Absenteeism

You are hereby notified of your absenteeism from work, as noted by your supervisor. In the last month, you have missed reporting to the workplace for two days, on 20/3/2025 and on 28/3/2025 without an explanation or prior permission from your supervisor.

Your supervisor had given you a verbal warning after you failed to report working the first time, but you still repeated the behaviour. Please take this as a formal written warning for your behaviour.

As outlined in our disciplinary procedures policy in your employment contract, you are hereby suspended for four days starting tomorrow 2/4/2025 to 5/4/2025 and are required to improve your behaviour upon returning to work. Failure to do so will result in further disciplinary action, potentially including termination of your employment.

Name of supervisor: Carolyn Davis Signature: Carolyn Davis

Date: 1/4/2025

I have confirmed my behaviour and the subsequent disciplinary action. More disciplinary action may be taken, including termination of employment in the event of future violations.

Signature of employee: Janett Smith

Date:1/4/2025

Signature of HR representative: Christopher Garrison

Date: 1/4/2025

It is typically the employer’s responsibility to ensure fairness and consistency when issuing disciplinary action forms, so that all employees are treated impartially and according to established policies.

Tips for writing employment disciplinary action forms

Filling in an employee disciplinary action form may be relatively straightforward. To check that you’ve completed each section as well as possible, here are some tips to help you in the process:

• Use specific details: for example, explain in writing how an employee’s behaviour was offensive rather than just saying that their behaviour was offensive.
• Document what witnesses saw or heard: note the location, dates and times of the specific witness statements. You could use your company’s employee handbook to determine the specific disciplinary actions necessary for various offences.
• Include corrective actions they can take: ensure that you also include the additional corrective action that will be necessary if the employee cannot improve or correct their behaviour.

Creating a clear, thorough disciplinary process makes addressing employee issues more effective. Our template and sample may help guide you in implementing a more straightforward and professional disciplinary process.

Employment disciplinary action templates for PDF and Word

Use these disciplinary action forms to ensure your employees know what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable.

*Indeed provides these examples as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your HR or legal advisor, and none of these documents reflect current labour or employment regulations.