Question: We want to suspend an employee to get his attention. What do you think?
John has been late a number of times over the last six months. His supervisor has given him a verbal warning, and a written warning. He’s been warned that one more tardy this month and he’ll be suspended – that should get his attention!
Today, John is 20 minutes late. His three day suspension is automatic.
Answer: What’s the point? This suspension is harder on the employer than the employee in many cases.
John gets three days off without pay, while his employer loses him for even more time than he’s already missed.
There are no requirements or laws for private sector employers (outside of a collective bargaining agreement) to give progressive discipline or increasingly severe penalties (usually noted as a verbal warning, then written warning, followed by suspension) before an employee is demoted or terminated.
Of course, giving the employee some “feedback” that he’s veering off course, including the expectations and consequences is usually recommended. Rather than a multiple day suspension many employers give the employee a final written warning and a day of “decision making” leave. In any case, losing the employee’s productivity is not beneficial to the employer (hasn’t he already missed enough work?) and will not further support the employer’s decision to terminate the employee.
We typically recommend suspending an employee for a very short period of time (one day) except pending an investigation or drug/medical test results.