Effective Strategies to Document Employee Discipline

Ann Knuckles Mahoney, Member of the Firm, and Drew Ambrose, Associate, co-present "Effective Strategies to Document Employee Discipline," an on-demand webinar hosted by Lorman.

When employment disputes arise, whether wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, or other claims, the quality of an employer's documentation of the issue can often determine the outcome. Many employers find that they lack the requisite documentation to support disciplinary actions or defend against legal action. This course will equip managers and human resource professionals with practical strategies to create effective documentation to build a defensible record supporting employment actions taken in response to disciplinary or performance issues.

Strong documentation serves two critical purposes: it helps employers ensure that they are prepared to defend against legal challenges by establishing a clear record of decisions and actions and it reinforces fair and consistent practices that can enhance employee engagement and cooperation, thereby increasing productivity. This webinar will provide the framework for handling the documentation of sensitive employment matters with professionalism.

Participants will learn best practices and gain an understanding of the fundamentals of how to document disciplinary and performance issues, including what to include and what to avoid. Using real-world scenarios, this webinar will walk participants through the process of drafting effective performance evaluations, performance improvement plans, disciplinary warnings, memos to file, and investigation reports, including disciplinary recommendations.

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify the legal and operational reasons for documenting employee performance and disciplinary matters.
• You will be able to determine which disciplinary infractions and performance issues should be documented.
• You will be able to distinguish between effective and problematic language in disciplinary and performance documentation.
• You will be able to recognize the key elements of performance evaluations, improvement plans, disciplinary warnings, memos to file, and investigation reports.

For more information, visit the event web page.