Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter Fifteen
15 Managing Employee Discipline
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LIST four behavioral categories of difficult
employees
DESCRIBE steps that can be taken to prevent theft
by employees
DISCUSS the elements of a disciplinary system

DEFINE employment at will

EXPLAIN why some employees are opposed to drug

testing, even after an accident
Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
15-2

Managing Employee Discipline:

The Discipline Process
Diagnose internal and
external factors in
discipline situations
Prescribeand implement
Employee appropriate remedial Management
Rights actions Prerogative
Evaluate the effectiveness
of the discipline decisions

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15-3

Managing Employee Discipline:

Behavioral Categories
Ineffective Employees:
Those whose quality or quantity of work is
unsatisfactory
Alcoholic and Substance-Abusing Employees:
Those whose personal problems off the job
begin to affect productivity on the job
Participants in Theft and Other Illegal Acts:
Those who violate laws while on the job
Rule Violators:
Those who consistently break company rules
and do not respond to supervisory reactions
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15-4

Drug Testing & Employee Discipline:

Employee/Employer Viewpoints
Employee’s Employer’s
perceived right DRUG legitimate
to privacy or TESTING business &
confidentiality liability interests

Defamation of character Insurance costs

claims Lawsuits
Negligence claims Productivity concerns
Invasion of privacy claims Safety & health concerns

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15-5

Drug Testing & Employee Discipline:

Common Legal Approaches
DRUG TESTING FOR CAUSE
Conducted for reasonable cause (e.g., after accidents)
Courts generally uphold such drug testing for public & private

employees
DRUG TESTING TO ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY
Used by governments & transportation-related businesses
Conducted in various forms by governments & transportation-

related businesses
POST-REHABILITATION OR EAP DRUG TESTING
Conducted following professional diagnosis & treatment programs
Recovering addicts, not current users, receive ADA protection

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15-6

Drug Testing & Employee Discipline:

Suspect Approaches
RANDOM DRUG TESTING
Conducted at the will or discretion of an employer
Employees often chosen through a random number generator
program
Raises considerable illegal search and seizure and privacy rights
under the Fourth Amendment
Must considerable applicable federal and state laws that may
regulate employee drug testing
Often the courts and some states forbid an employer from
randomly drug testing its employees
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15-7

Employee Theft and Illegal Acts

RECENT APPROACHES EMPHASIZE:

Problem recognition
Prevention
Conflict confrontation

INCLUDES THE USE OF:

Securityprograms
Pre-employment screening
Other ways (see exhibit 15-2)

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15-8

Approaches to Discipline
PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE
HOT STOVE RULE Sequence of penalties for actions
Warning system Penalties move from less severe to
Immediate burn
more severe
Consistency
Due process at work
Impersonality
See example in Exhibit 15-6

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE
Considered more future-oriented
Deemphasize punitive action

Work with employees to solve

disciplinary problems

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15-9

Employment At Will
Employment at will describes an employment
relationship of an indefinite duration
that may be terminated by an employee
or employer at any time without
notice for good cause, for no cause,
or even for cause morally wrong.

NON-STATUTORY EXCEPTIONS:
 Existence of an implied contract
 Covenant of good faith and fair dealing
 Violation of public policy

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15-10

Employment at Will and

Probationary Employees
MOST COMMON TYPES
OF PROBATION:
Initial Hire or Rehire Probation

Promotion or Transfer Probation

Disciplinary Probation

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 Employment at Will &
15-11

Probationary Employees:
Some Employment-Related Issues
Duration and Extensions of Probationary Periods
Legal, but should be supported by job-related factors
Benefits and Compensation
New hires may be paid on two-tier scale & receive only
mandated benefits
Assessment and Training
Broad authority to assess job related behaviors during probation
Employment Law
Probationary employees retain employment law protection
Irwin/McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.