HR Glossary

Disciplinary infraction

What is a disciplinary infraction?

A disciplinary infraction refers to any employee action or behavior that violates their organization's code of conduct, established rules, workplace standards, or company policies. Although a disciplinary infraction is not as serious as other misconduct, it still requires appropriate HR action to ensure employees follow workplace standards.

What are the two types of disciplinary infraction?

The two types of disciplinary infraction include minor disciplinary infraction and major disciplinary infraction. While minor infractions like early departures, occasional late check-ins, dress code violations, and missing a few deadlines do not cause any major harm or dysfunction to the organization, major infractions like harassment, threats, data breaches, and substance abuse cause serious damage to the organization in terms of safety, culture, and reputation.

How is the severity of a disciplinary infraction determined?

Here are some steps that can help you determine the severity of a disciplinary infraction:

• Review the nature of the violation.
• Determine how often it's been happening.
• Examine the intent behind the violation, whether it is intentional, accidental, or negligent.
• Analyze the impact it has had on your organization, employees, and operations.
• Be sure to handle the infraction fairly without any biases.

What is an example of a disciplinary infraction?

Consider an employee who arrives late to the office consistently without any prior approval or reasonable justification. This behavior violates the organization’s attendance policy. While it doesn't comply with established workplace standards, it may be classified as a minor infraction if it does not significantly disrupt operations or impact other employees. In this case, the HR team can send in a warning letter.

Now, consider a different scenario. An employee shares your organization's sensitive customer information with a third party without proper authorization. Since this violates the organization's data protection policies and customer confidentiality obligations, this counts as a major disciplinary infraction given the financial, legal, and reputational risks involved. For this behavior, the HR team may proceed to suspend or terminate the employee, depending on the impact.

What happens when a disciplinary infraction is reported?

Here's a general flow of what happens after a disciplinary infraction is reported:

An employee reports an infraction.

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The HR team formally acknowledges and documents the complaint.

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The HR team conducts the first-level review.

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After review, the team determines if any immediate corrective action is required.

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(If yes) →The HR team takes an interim measure, such as suspension.

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The HR team initiates a formal investigation. They gather evidence, talk to all the concerned parties, and provide a space for the employee to respond.

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The HR team documents the findings and assesses the severity of the issue.

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They determine if the infraction is substantiated with proper evidence.

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(If no) → They close the case and document the outcome.

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(If yes) → They determine the necessary corrective action.

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HR team communicates the decision to the employee and implements the disciplinary action.

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The HR team records the issue in the personnel file.

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They follow up to ensure compliance.

How do you create a disciplinary infraction policy?

Here's a step-by-step approach to creating a strong disciplinary infraction policy:

Step 1: Define why the policy was created in the first place and who it applies to.

Step 2: Provide a clear explanation for the disciplinary infraction. Mention the types of disciplinary infraction and provide clear definitions and examples for each category.

Step 3: List out the different factors that can be considered to assess the severity of the disciplinary infraction.

Step 4: Tell employees who they should report the infraction to and how. Reassure them that they will not face any consequences for reporting an issue.

Step 5: Detail the different steps involved in the investigation process like the preliminary review, employee's right to respond, confidentiality obligations, and documentation expectations.

Step 6: Mention the disciplinary actions involved and how they'll look.

Step 7: Make sure that the policy aligns with applicable regional and national laws.

Step 8: Communicate the policy to your employees.