Today, maintaining discipline during work is an important responsibility of management. How to implement the course of this process competently? When is a disciplinary sanction applied in the form of a comment? The sample order in each case is different or not? You can find answers to these and other equally interesting questions in the process of getting acquainted with the materials of this article.
Why maintain labor discipline?
Why is maintaining labor discipline in any structure one of the decisive factors of work efficiency? This procedure allows you to establish a social climate in the organization, increases the authority of the boss and ensures the safety of work. According to statistics, it can be concluded that a great many emergency situations that, one way or another, lead to accidents, disruptions and disasters, occur in connection with various violations of labor discipline by employees.
Today, disciplinary practice in Russia, as a rule, is based on measures of persuasion and encouragement. However, such a disciplinary action as a remark, for example, from management also happens quite often. In this matter, it is very important to observe the following criteria:
- Due justice.
- Competent support of the decisions made in the documentary plan.
- Legality.
- Objectivity.
Disciplinary sanctions: remark, reprimand, dismissal
The current Labor Code of Russia clearly presents a list of disciplinary sanctions, which, as a rule, apply to employees. So, in article 192 of the labor legislation it is said that the employee may be reprimanded, remarked, or dismissed altogether due to misconduct that falls under the influence of parts 5-10 of article 81.
It is important to note that the disclosing types of disciplinary sanctions, remark, reprimand, dismissal are standard categories. Today they are widespread in all, at least, domestic structures. However, there is also special disciplinary liability. Its regulation is carried out through federal, sectoral or even local legal acts, which, one way or another, take into account the characteristics of the organization of work in a specific structure. So, for example, in some organizations today it is often practiced to transfer a delinquent employee for a temporary period (usually up to three months) to another area of work where wages are much lower, or to a lower position.
Thus, today a widespread disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark (a sample order is presented below), reprimand or dismissal. Special disciplinary responsibility is applied much less frequently. By the way, the management in any case should remember that Russian law in no case provides for penalties, followed by material punishment of the employee. Then, when the provision on bonuses has been clearly worked out and put into effect in the structure, which indicates the powers of the management regarding employee incentives, the authorities are vested with the full right to exclude the promotion of a materially guilty employee.
What should I look for?
A disciplinary sanction (remark in labor, reprimand or dismissal) is only relevant today in certain cases. Among them are the following items:
- Violation by the employee of the standards of the labor schedule, which are established and approved officially.
- Violation of employee job descriptions.
- Such a disciplinary sanction, as a remark, for example, is often applied in case of violation by the employee of the requirements related to labor protection.
- Violation by the employee related to the observance of industrial safety.
It is important to note that the orders given to the employee (despite the fact that they are drawn up in writing) must under no circumstances go beyond his immediate responsibilities in a functional way. In addition, the application of disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark, reprimand or dismissal is impossible for the employee to fail to fulfill personal requests of the management, public assignments or for misconduct committed by him after hours. An exception here can only be an immoral act, which falls under the provisions of Article 82 of the eighth paragraph.
So, in order to avoid misunderstandings, all employees of the organization or enterprise must be familiar with the internal rules, as well as with the provisions prescribed in the collective agreement. The management of any organization undertakes to ensure the personal development of job descriptions for each category of employees, as well as bring them under signature and give each employee a copy of the document.
It is necessary to know that the characteristics of labor activity corresponding to the position held by a particular specialist should be reflected in an individual employment contract. In addition, in the case of a shift mode of operation, it is appropriate to draw up a schedule of shifts, approve them and inform the employees at the beginning of each period included in the general plan.
Disciplinary offense
As already explained above, the imposition of a disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark, reprimand or dismissal is the most common practice today. So, in case of identification by one employee or another of misconduct, which, in accordance with the opinion of the management of the organization or enterprise, requires penalties, it is completely insufficient, and even extremely harmful, to verbally express any dissatisfaction or declare, for example, a reprimand without documenting it, even in the presence of the entire workforce. Such actions are not endowed with legal force at all. In no case do they support the authority of the authorities.
In order to issue an order to impose a disciplinary sanction (remark, reprimand or dismissal), you must first conduct an internal investigation and analysis of the event. The basis for such procedures is a petition (memorandum acting as a message) from an employee who is appointed senior in a particular area of work, or from the management of the organization’s structural unit.
Perfect any disciplinary action requires documentary support. Usually, an act is formed regarding the incident. One way or another, it is certified by the signatures of real witnesses. The offending employee of the enterprise must be familiar with the document without fail. In case of its refusal, it is also necessary to fix it with an act.
Within two working days, the head of the structure agrees to require an employee to explain what happened. It is best to implement this in writing through an official letter or order. In the absence of an employee at this time, you can send him a letter with the appropriate notification. It is important to note that if an employee refuses to execute an explanatory statement, these circumstances should be recorded in an act. By the way, it often happens that there is a need for an expert opinion:
- Regarding the state of drug or alcohol intoxication.
- Regarding violation of labor protection requirements at the enterprise.
- Regarding non-compliance with the workflow process chart.
Additional actions
It is known that disciplinary action in the form of a remark (a sample is presented in subsequent chapters), reprimand or dismissal is possible only in certain cases. So, a continuation of the procedure for fixing a disciplinary offense is to collect explanations from employees by decision of the management. It is through explanatory that the authorities have the opportunity to learn directly about the process of violation and its consequences. It is necessary to supplement that the following papers may be attached to the main documentation related to the investigation:
- Extracts from the work schedule and the established schedule.
- Copies of orders, job descriptions.
- Other papers that confirm the fact of violation.
It should be noted that the order for disciplinary sanction in the form of a remark, reprimand or dismissal can be executed only when the above documentation is accepted today. This circumstance will serve as a definite plus in the event of a trial.
It is undesirable to delay the investigation process. Thus, management is empowered to recover within one calendar month from the date of notification, but no later than six months from the date of the misconduct by one or another employee. It is necessary to add that the deadlines do not include the time the offending employee was on sick leave and the period that the trade union body needs to make an appropriate motivated opinion. By the way, investigative operations of law enforcement agencies are not included in a six-month period when they are needed.
Penalties and related procedures
After the official hearing has been made and the decision has been made by the leader regarding the appointment of the perpetrator, an order is issued to impose a disciplinary sanction: comments (sample is presented below), reprimand or dismissal. It should be noted that things that seem obvious today can become difficult to explain after a while. So, a good leader who has decided to impose a penalty on a particular employee should always be ready to defend his own opinion in any instance.
It is important to note that an order characterizing a remark as a disciplinary sanction is not executed in accordance with exact requirements. However, one way or another, the following factors should be considered:
- The order should indicate all facts that relate to the incident due to the fault of a certain employee or their group, with the obligatory indication of regulatory acts that are violated, and relevant legal justifications.
- The name of the document may be concise (for example, “On the punishment of an employee”) or suggest a violation, especially when not one employee is subject to recovery, but their group (for example, “On the disruption of technical work and punishment of offenders” )
- In the narrative of the order, the fact of violation is described in detail, where the personal guilt of each of the defendants is determined.
- A disciplinary action such as a remark is a minimal consequence of disciplinary action. So, in order to strengthen the latter in relation to the whole team, as well as in order to exclude the repetition of what happened, it is necessary to make a brief analysis of the violation with the definition of the key reasons that led to it. Then, when the guilty employee was subject to disciplinary action earlier, such circumstances are obligatory reflected in the main part of the order.
- The motivation part of the document under consideration is devoted, as a rule, to references to laws and other legislative acts that have been violated by the perpetrators, as well as to articles of the Labor Code that give the head the right to make certain decisions.
- The order (resolutive) part of the order contains specific decisions of the leadership. It is logical that it is in the materials of this part that the wording is directly imposed on the perpetrators. Nevertheless, this should not be limited, because the boss has the absolute right to state, on the basis of an analysis made in an orderly manner, of requirements for subordinates in order to restore order with respect to entrusted areas of work and specific measures related to strengthening discipline in the course of labor activity.
Disciplinary action: remark
A remark should be understood as a loyal measure of disciplinary sanction applied by an employer to an employee for improper performance or non-fulfillment of the labor functions assigned to him. So, having committed a violation by accident or intentionally, the employee is guilty. For example, a remark as a disciplinary sanction may be provided in case of being late for work.
In this chapter, it will be advisable to consider step-by-step instructions for the design of the document in question. So, you should make sure that there is paper fixing precisely the employee who has violated or not fulfilled his labor function. It is impossible to hold an employee liable for failure to fulfill a duty that is not endowed with legal registration. Then, when the misconduct still takes place, it is necessary to perform a series of operations:
- Preparation of a memorandum or act on the fact of an act (or inaction).
- Request written explanation from the employee. In the event of his refusal to provide the corresponding explanation, the employer is obliged to state this refusal within two working days by means of the formation of the act.
- Execution of an order regarding the application of penalties to the offender. The document must be motivated, containing links to violated clauses of the local acts of the employer, as well as other documentation confirming the guilt of the employee.
- Registration of a document in the Journal of Orders.
- Announcement to the employee of the order under a personal signature. It is important to note that the deadline for its announcement is three business days immediately after the publication of the document. The refusal of the perpetrator to familiarize himself with the order, one way or another, is recorded through an act. A characterizing disciplinary order (comment), a sample document is given below.
Deadlines for recovery
It is important to note that the remark as a disciplinary sanction is applied to the employee within six months from the moment of violation, and also within one month from the moment of detection of misconduct. Changing the deadlines is advisable in the following cases:
- Detection of misconduct based on the results of an audit or audit in the field of finance. In this case, the term changes by 2 years from the date of the violation.
- The employee’s stay on sick leave, on vacation, or the relevance of the production process in accordance with a criminal case instituted because of an offense committed by the employee. Time must also be included here to take into account the point of view of the trade union structure, which, like the other items, is not included in the time periods specified by law.
Removing a comment
Then, when the employee is not subjected to new penalties during the annual period, the existing punishment is automatically removed. It is important to note that today management has the option of early removal of disciplinary action from an employee.This decision can be taken solely by the authorities at the initiative of the offending, but already corrected employee, trade union organization, or direct supervisor of this employee.
Important information!
It is important to note that after such a disciplinary sanction has been applied to an employee as a remark, the employer is vested with the legal right not to pay him incentive payments (bonuses). These grounds, one way or another, should be provided for in the local acts of the employer.
By the way, if the employee repeatedly commits violations of a disciplinary nature during the year, he can be legally dismissed at the initiative of the employer. It is important to note that the employee has the right to appeal the penalty to the state labor inspectorate, labor dispute resolution bodies or in court. In this case, in fact, after the appeal, a thorough check will be made. So, in case of detection of some violations in respect of the employer, an administrative penalty may be provided in accordance with article 5.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, unpaid incentive amounts (bonuses) will need to be paid to the employee subject to interest.