Employee Warning Letter
Alternate Names:
An Employee Warning Letter is also known as a/an:
- Written Warning
- Letter of Reprimand
- Disciplinary Form
- Employee Warning Notice
What is an Employee Warning Letter?
An Employee Warning Letter is a form that an employer gives to an employee to inform them of a breach of company protocol. It serves to let the employee know of their infraction and what the consequences of their action will be.
The employer should also keep a copy of the letter for documentation purposes.
What information is in an Employee Warning Letter?
An Employee Warning Letter should generally include basic information such as:
- Employment details about the employee, such as their name, employee number, and title
- Company details, like the name of the business, the manager's name, and the human resource officer's name, if applicable
- Details about the infraction the employee is being reprimanded for
- Information about the rule or policy that was broken by the infraction
- What the employee needs to do to improve
The letter should also have a section for employee comments, signing details for all parties, whether a meeting is required, and when a follow-up assessment will take place.
As a general rule of thumb, the content in the Employee Warning Letter should point to a specific incident (or multiple incidents that happened in a short period of time, like a few days or weeks) so the company has detailed records and the employee understands exactly where they went wrong.
For instance, if an employee is consistently arriving late to work, be sure to document each time they show up late so that you can include those specific dates and times in the written warning.
What is considered a disciplinary action?
There are many circumstances in which an employer may wish to issue a written warning to inform an employee that they are taking disciplinary action. The most common reasons being that the employee:
- Is not meeting job requirements
- Is repeatedly late for work
- Has missed days that have not been accounted for.
- Has breached health and safety, drug and alcohol, or confidentiality policies
- Has misled the employer about their qualifications
- Has stolen from the business or a co-worker
- Has made threats to physically harm another employee
In an Employee Warning Letter, you need to describe the employee's infraction and you may also wish to include some suggestions for how they can improve in addition to what the consequences of their actions are.
What is probation?
If an infraction is serious enough, or if it is an employee's second or third warning, you may wish to put the employee on probation as a consequence.
This means that they will have a specified period of time to improve or to amend their actions. If they do not meet the requirements by the end of the probationary period, they will face consequences, such as a loss of employment.
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