One of the biggest challenges facing many organizations today is the complexity of handling employee discipline in the most effective way. In the 2005 annual report of the National Labour Commission (NLC), about 49% of cases filed with the Commission bother on summarily dismissals and unfair terminations as a result of disciplinary issues at the workplace. It’s very alarming how aggrieved employees are dragging their employers to courts or the Labour Commission for perceived poor handling of discipline. Consequently, when disciplinary issues are not well handled, the tendency of high staff turnover, high rate of internal conflicts, low productivity levels, negative corporate image among others is obvious. Following this phenomenal, most employees now perceives discipline as a form of punishment and victimization rather than a means of correction for wrong doing. In the quest to deal with this complexity, the following Ten Commandments have been suggested.

1.       Discipline must be a policy:

Every organization must make discipline a policy. Such a policy need to be well documented outlining crystal clear actions which may be considered as offences and sanctions to be meted when they are committed. The disciplinary policy could either be included as part of the employee handbook or printed separately and distributed to employees at the time of their engagement.

2.       Discipline must be communicated:

Every disciplinary action intended to be taken against an employee must be well communicated. Employees have every right to know the charges leveled against them and the disciplinary action which is being taken against them. It is equally important that periodically, employees must be educated on the disciplinary policy in order to keep them constantly aware of its existence.

3.       Discipline must be reviewed:

Except for verbal warnings, a decision to discipline an employee by a Supervisor or Line Manager must first be reviewed by the HR Manager to determine whether or not such an action is justifiable. This may tend to avoid unfairness and thereby promote uniformity in the disciplinary process.

4.       Discipline must be consistent:

Much as possible, all disciplinary actions taken must be consistent with the policy. For example: sanctions applicable under minor offences should not be the same for those under major offences.

5.       Discipline must follow due process:

The discipline process must be progressive which requires that committed offences must be reported, queries must be issued to the employee stating the specific offence committed, an opportunity must be given to the employee to respond to the charges leveled against him and thorough investigations must be conducted into the specific case before sanctions could be applied. Where due process is not followed, employees feel unfairly treated and may lose confidence in the disciplinary system.

6.       Discipline must be documented:

All disciplinary cases dealt with must be documented and kept on file together with all the related evidence gathered. This may serve as a basis for administering stiffer sanctions for similar offences committed in the future.

7.       Discipline must be fair:

Employee discipline must be handled with objectivity and transparency. What is fair means that the gravity of the offence must equally match the degree of the sanctions to be applied. For example: Firing an employee who commits a first time offence of absenting himself from work without permission would be seen as unfair. You cannot kill a house fly with a sledge hammer.

8.       Discipline must be administered with flexibility:

The disciplinary process must allow for some level of flexibility in order to avoid too much strictness in certain situations. For example: An employee may be late for work because he was attacked by armed men. Such cases must be handled with some level of discretion being exercised. 

9.       Discipline must involve counseling:

Although most organizations fail in this area, offering counseling to employees is an integral part of the disciplinary process. Providing guidance and direction to employees on sensitive issues is very necessary to get them change their attitude to conform to the demands of the job.

10.   Discipline must be meted with consultation:

In dealing with offences that are very complex in nature, it’s always advisable to consult expert opinions or seek professional advice before administering discipline. There are cases that have an element of criminality or legal implications and the safest way of dealing with such cases is to consult someone with a specialized knowledge in that field.

By Andrews Ahele Ahene - Assistant Registrar, HR Dpt. WAEC