A warning letter is a type of official communication that takes place between the employee and the employer. In some cases, the teacher or principal of an institute also issues a written warning to the student in the form of a warning letter. Different situations call for a written warning. One of the most common situations is when a person fails to maintain discipline and the company decides to take disciplinary actions against him.
What is a warning letter for disciplinary action?
This type of warning letter is drafted due to discipline on the employee’s part. Through this letter, the employer or supervisor gets the opportunity to discuss the entire matter with the employee and convey whatever he expects from him in the future.
Why it is important to write a deterrent letter?
Every organization takes some corrective measures to correct the behavior of those workers who indulge themselves in any kind of misconduct. A company can’t dismiss all the people from a job because of misconduct. So, it keeps writing forewarnings to them to ask them to correct their behavior. People who don’t want to lose their job often take this warning letter seriously and try to not show any misconduct in the future. This way, the company corrects the behavior of people.
What is the basic purpose of writing the warning?
When there is a discipline issue, things can go south, and sometimes, lack of discipline produces so much disorder that the employer has to show his involvement and take control of the situation. The purpose of the written warning is to ensure that things are under control and the person who has breached the policy of the company has been taken to task.
Some companies also like to go with verbal warnings. However, this does not work always. In some cases, verbal criticism does not lead to fruitful results. So, to get desired outcomes, the employer puts down the warning in the form of a letter.
What are the main components of the warning letter?
The main elements of this letter are:
Details of the employee:
Mention the name, designation in the company, unique employee number, and other details at the start of the letter so there remains no confusion as to who has been addressed in this letter.
Violation Description:
This warning is always issued as a result of the violation. So, when there is a breach of a policy of the company, there is a need to address that breach. For an employee, the breach may not be serious. But, the company might be considering it to be too offensive. The description of the violation brings all the people on the same page and lets the employee know about the perspective of the employer.
Corrective measure plan:
Some companies try to teach employees what corrective measures they can take to get out of this situation. If you have a plan, come up with it in the letter.
How to write the disciplinary action warning letter?
The employer is required to show adherence to some basic steps while writing the warning letter. These steps are being discussed below:
Use the letterhead of your company:
The employee can understand the seriousness of the matter when he receives a warning from official sources. The warning written on letterhead is always issued by officials and therefore, has more value. Whenever you want to write a warning, make use of your company’s letterhead.
State the issue:
A warning letter always discusses the issue that the company is having with the employee. Since this letter is written for disciplinary action, it is required to discuss the employee’s incorrect behavior. If there is a particular situation in which the employee misbehaved and showed unprofessional behavior, you must give reference to that situation.
Discuss outcomes:
There are always unpleasant outcomes of misconduct on the employee’s part. These outcomes depend on the seriousness of the misconduct. No matter the violation of disciplinary rules is less offensive or serious, the warning letter should always address the disciplinary actions the company can take to correct the behavior of the employee.
Sample Letter
Date:
Name of employee
Address of employee
Re: Warning for Disciplinary Action on [X]
Dear (Name of employee),
This letter aims to provide you with an official warning for the incident which happened on (date).
We were told about the incident and this misconduct is against our work ethics. (State what the employee did). Our company’s policy (give the name of policy) states that disciplinary action will be taken due to this misconduct.
The company’s policy and guidelines are made with the aim of creating a good workplace environment. We expect all employees to respect there.
You have been violating the rules and so this warning has been sent to you. If this violation occurs again, action will be taken.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Title
Signature
File: Word (.docx) 2007+ and iPad
Size 12 KB