Disciplinary issues within the workplace have to be dealt with extreme caution by an employer. The disciplinary procedures within a company must comply with Government legislation be fair, legally correct and professional. Failure to do this can result in an employee taking action of their own which could result in a company being taken to an industrial tribunal because of unfair and/or unlawful treatment.

To avoid this, many employers will have strict guidelines as to the disciplinary procedures within the company. Often, workers will be supplied with a staff handbook which outlines what the company deems to be misconduct which will result in the perpetrator being formally disciplined and, for serious offences, even dismissed.

However, if you do need to take disciplinary action and have followed the correct procedures first, your next step is likely to issue a letter to the employee regarding their misconduct which you should send as soon as possible after the misconduct occurred, providing that all other lawful disciplinary procedures in accordance with your company guidelines, have been followed through firstly.

How to Write it

Your letter should be fairly brief and succinct and you should not include anything which could be misinterpreted by the recipient. You should not be looking to make any kind of observations or generalisations about the recipient’s character but you should stick to the facts. And, no matter how serious the degree of misconduct, whether already proven or alleged, you should remain professional and not use insulting language and also give the recipient the right to respond to your allegations, which you would normally do by inviting them to attend a meeting or formal hearing to discuss these matters.

In addressing the recipient, you may choose to use their first name or surname, depending on your relationship with the recipient and how formal or informal communication within your place of work seems to be.

If you are requesting a meeting or formal hearing with the recipient, it’s often a good idea to state the time, date and location of that in bold print to avoid any possible misunderstanding.