Disciplinary

Maintaining discipline usually is not a problem within a work environment where reasonable rules and standards of conduct and performance are clearly communicated and consistently and equitably enforced. There are situations of misconduct or delinquency, however, where there is no alternative but to penalize.

Penalties should not be disproportionate to offenses and should be applied as consistently as possible, considering the particular circumstances of the cause(s) for disciplinary action. In the Department of Transportation we provide a twelve step process to determining the correct course of action called Selecting a Disciplinary Action.

There are many possible causes for an employee's performance and/or conduct problem, for example, illness, disability, drug or alcohol abuse, personality conflict, family problems, lack of training, low job morale, etc. The nature of the problem will determine the course of action to be taken. Maybe the employee should be referred to the Employee Assistance Program for substance abuse counseling, or a fitness-for-duty medical examination (to be linked) may be needed to determine physical or mental capability to do the job. The Disciplinary Actions in DOT are:

Oral and Written Admonishments
Reprimands
Example of Reprimand
Suspensions
Reductions in grade

Removals

If the problem is failure to meet the requirements established on the employee's performance plan, then appropriate action could also be taken under the Performance Management Program. For guidance on dealing with poor job performance refer to menu item Employee Management Relations Program - Dealing With Poor Performers.

If it is misconduct or delinquency, such as tardiness, failure to properly request leave, insubordination, theft, etc., then an option could be to take disciplinary action. There are a variety of ways to deal with these, depending on the severity of the misconduct: lesser disciplinary actions, such as admonishments and reprimands, to more severe penalties, such as suspensions and removals.

There may be instances where the problems are both performance and conduct. In these cases action may be taken under either program or both simultaneously.