Can you be given a written warning

While you may be upset when given the warning, it's important to remain calm and maintain your composure. Remaining calm makes it easier to have a rational, even positive discussion with your manager about your performance at work. Your manager may even be impressed by your level of professionalism.

While you do want to approach the situation with caution, it's okay to provide your reasoning if you disagree with the warning. Before doing so, give yourself a moment to prepare your thoughts.

You may even need to schedule a meeting to speak with your manager at a later to give yourself more time to do so. Focus on the facts of the situation and refrain from making it personal or comparing yourself to others. Taking notes can give you something to focus on during the meeting with your manager, which can help you better maintain your composure. It will also ensure that you remember exactly what your manager says.

Some important points to write down are exactly why you're receiving the warning and what you can take to resolve the issue. During the meeting, your manager should communicate exactly what problem led to the warning. One of the most important things you can do is to find out exactly what you could do differently to avoid problems in the future.

While this may be obvious in some cases, such as if the warning was issued because of recurring tardiness, in other cases, the problem may not be so clear. For example, perhaps you were reprimanded because you were not fully engaged with a project. When that's the case, it's important to come up with a clear plan for how you can improve in that area. It is sufficient for the employer to give the employee a copy of the warning and retain a copy on their employment file.

By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy. London Cambridge Aberdeen Manchester Birmingham. Call When to Issue a Final Written Warning? Employment Team. Unlimited HR help for a fixed, low monthly fee. Need help with an employment issue? Access unlimited legal advice without the worry of costs with our Triple A support. There are a number of obligations employers have to meet when issuing a final written warning.

What constitutes a final written warning? What does a final written warning mean for the employee? When to issue a final written warning Instigating disciplinary proceedings against an employee for misconduct or poor performance can often feel like a legal minefield for employers, especially where the matter is sufficiently serious to warrant a final written warning.

Best practice for managers issuing warnings Before issuing a final written warning there are four main steps that must be followed as a matter of best practice and in accordance with ACAS guidelines: Establishing the facts: before taking any disciplinary action, an employer must first establish the facts. This means that a full and fair investigation must be undertaken, without unreasonable delay, to determine the nature and extent of what is being alleged.

Even if you feel that your findings at this stage are indefensible, you will still need to arrange a disciplinary hearing to provide an employee with the opportunity to explain their side of the story. They should also be informed of their statutory right, on reasonable request, to be accompanied. Holding a disciplinary hearing : at the hearing the employee should be given a reasonable opportunity to ask questions, present any evidence and call their own witnesses.

Any questions and submissions can be made either by the employee, or by a co-worker or employee representative on their behalf.

Deciding on any disciplinary action: after hearing any evidence and arguments put forward by or on behalf of the employee, you must decide on what disciplinary action to take. What constitutes a fair sanction will depend on all the circumstances, although a final written warning must be proportionate to the seriousness of the case, having regard to any prior verbal or written warnings in relation to the same matter, and any mitigating factors.

You can adjourn before making any disciplinary decision, notifying the employee once a decision has been reached. A final written warning should only be reserved for the most serious or repeated breaches, typically following prior verbal or written warnings.

This course of action must also be consistent with any previous disciplinary decisions, and is unlikely to be appropriate if others have been treated less harshly for similar transgressions. What should a final written warning letter include? Any final written warning letter should ideally include: The outcome of the disciplinary hearing, including what findings were made.

Please bear in mind that this is a complex situation — get in touch with us for further guidance. If a first act of misconduct is very serious but there is some mitigation making immediate dismissal inappropriate, then an employer can potentially decide to skip the first written warning and go straight to issuing a final written warning. Where the employer has a well drafted disciplinary policy, it should be made clear that the employer has the discretion to skip to a final warning in appropriate circumstances.

Where the act of misconduct is so serious in itself or has such serious consequences that it amounts to gross misconduct, an employer is entitled to dismiss without giving a warning at all and without notice or payment in lieu of notice. However, a reasonable employer will always follow a fair disciplinary process — including an appropriate investigation — before dismissal for gross misconduct.

In addition, staff rules should give examples of acts which the employer may regard as gross misconduct. The best practice guidance laid down in the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures recommends the structure of first and final warnings as detailed above.

Employers are therefore well advised to follow this, and any less lenient procedure is likely to be frowned upon by an employment tribunal, potentially leading to a finding of unfair dismissal.

However, the actual process which an employer follows may vary if, for example, they have a longer, more complicated procedure which allows for a greater number of warnings before dismissal. If this is the case, the employer has much less freedom to deviate from the procedure as it is laid down in the contract. Any failure by the employer to go through the steps of the procedure properly would also amount to a breach of contract.

A formal warning letter may not only be a good idea, but it may be a necessity when it comes to maintaining proper disciplinary action in the UK. Take, for instance, the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Even gov. For a more accessible and practical piece of guidance, it is also helpful to take a look at the Acas guide to Discipline and Grievances at work which includes the employee discipline procedure the 6-step processes listed above , amongst other useful advice.

What kind of employee warnings might exist when it comes to following the disciplinary procedure, in addition to putting together a proper written warning.

We might want to consider:. Both of these cases are very serious, which is why they require a formal disciplinary procedure in the first place. After all, whether an employee is exhibiting gross misconduct, or is simply faltering in their role, it benefits everyone to have it on record. That said, as we mentioned before, this is likely after attempts to prevent a written, formal warning have been attempted and dismissed as ineffective.

Employee written warnings need to be warranted, which is again why a policy is so necessary. As you might expect, a first written warning is the first formal, written step towards dismissal.

Instead, it needs to be a quick report on the facts of the matter. When the meeting occurred, who was there, what was discussed, and what steps need to be taken. In fact, it is very important to keep things streamlined and to report only the facts.

In this case, dismissing the employee or taking other disciplinary or legal action against them may be appropriate. If their action is also against the law they should also be reported to the police.