Progressive Discipline Disadvantages

Progressive discipline can be an involved process. For very small businesses, it may be too involved to invest time in, especially if there are few discipline problems. Here are some of the other downsides of progressive discipline:

• A progressive discipline system requires that everyone with disciplinary authority be trained, fully knowledgeable of the policy, and willing to assume responsibility for administering the discipline steps.
• There may be a lot of documentation and follow-up work necessary to administer the plan.
• You need to have a formal, written policy. This policy need not be distributed to the employees, but you'll have to have it so that you can be sure it's followed consistently.
• You run the risk of guaranteeing a process that must be followed. Even if you don't print up the policy and give it to employees, you would be, in effect, telling employees how far they can go. In the event of a challenge, this information can be subpoenaed. Thus, it could be shown in court that your actions differed from your own written policy, which always makes you look bad.
• To the extent that areas of employee conduct are governed by a progressive discipline system, generally the at-will status of employees is altered.

You make an exception to the at-will status of employees when your policy says, in effect, that they will not be subject to immediate termination for the specific disciplinary infractions included in your progressive discipline policy. Therefore, if absenteeism is one of the disciplinary infractions covered by your progressive discipline policy, you should follow your policy in disciplining an employee for absenteeism unless there are unusual mitigating circumstances.

• In a very small business, it is a particular hardship to keep a problem employee around after several incidents of improper behavior, and suspending an employee can literally cripple the businesses.
• Employees may not be discharged for covered infractions until the entire process is complete.