DISCIPLINING EMPLOYEES

DEFINITION OF DISCIPLINE
 Discipline means orderliness or the absence of
disorder, chaos and confusion in human
behavior or action. It occurs when employees
behave in an orderly and responsible manner.
 According to Richard D. Calhoon, “discipline
may be considered as the force that prompts
individuals or groups to observe rules,
regulations, standards and procedures
deemed necessary for an organization.”
 In simple word, discipline is obedience to the
rules framed for the regulation of human
conduct.
 Webster dictionary gives three meanings to
the word discipline:
 It is training that corrects molds or
strengthens behavior.
 It is a control gained by enforcing obedience.
 It is an act of punishing the wrong doers.

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OBJECTIVES OF DISCIPLINE:
 To gain willing acceptance of the rules,
regulations, standards and procedures of the
organization from the employees.
 To develop the feeling of cooperation among
the workers.
 To maintain good industrial relations in the
organization.
 To promote morale and efficiency among the
workers.
 To develop a sense of tolerance and respect
for human dignity.

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Disciplining Employees/For Class Room Use Only3
PROCEDURE OF TAKING DISCIPLINARY
ACTION:
According to the Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 no
disciplinary action shall be taken against any
worker unless:
 The Allegations against him/her shall be
recorded in writing;
 He/she is given a copy of show cause
notice/charge sheet and not less than seven
days time to explain;
 He/she is given a personal hearing if such
prayer is made; and
 The employer or manager approves such
order.

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STAGES IN DISCIPLINING PROCEDURE

In short, the Law requires only eight stages in

regard to procedure for disciplinary action, which
are as follows:
1st Stage: First of all a preliminary inquiry
Preliminary should be held to find whether a
Investigation, if prima-facie case of misconduct
required: exists.
2nd Stage:  The departmental manager,
Issue of having considered the
Charge-Sheet preliminary report against the
or Show-Cause worker, will issue a Charge
notice Sheet or Show-Cause notice
as soon as possible.
 Charge sheet is merely a
notice of the charge and
provides the employee an
opportunity to explain his/her
conduct.
 The Charge Sheet shall be
prepared by the HR
department in consultation
with the Head of the
department concerned.
Departmental Manager or
Manager of the Organization
(it depends on the policy of
the organization) should sign.
 The offense, for which
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 disciplinary action is
proposed, shall be clearly
mentioned and the charges
should be specific, giving the
date, time, place, etc.
Relevant section of the Act
should be quoted in framing
the charges. The accused
shall be given not less than
seven days time to submit
his/her explanation.
3rd Stage:  This stage is for consideration of
Consideration the explanation submitted by the
of Explanation person concerned. The accused
may either admit or refute the
charges. In case of admission of
charges without any qualification
or ambiguity and appeal for
leniency, it would not be
necessary for the employer to hold
any further enquiry and he may
either issue written warning or
award punishment commensurate
with the gravity of the offense.
 If, however, the charge is
refuted by the worker, the
explanation should be clearly
scrutinized to see if the
explanation offered is
satisfactory. If it is so, further
proceedings may be dropped.
But if the explanation is not
satisfactory and the accused
has refuted the charge, a
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 formal enquiry must be
instituted. There may be
cases when the worker fails
or refuses to submit an
explanation. In both cases,
the employer must proceed
with the formal enquiry.
 It is important to note that
failure to submit an
explanation by the worker
does not absolve the
employer from the necessity
of holding an enquiry into the
charges brought against the
worker. Therefore, in such
cases also the regular
enquiry should be held and
only after that, should the
punishment be awarded.
 Another very essential point
we should always keep in
mind that the proceedings of
enquiry, the decision of the
Management and the nature
of punishment must be
recorded in writing.

4th Stage:  The forth stage in the
Notice of procedure is the notice to
Enquiry the worker of holding the
enquiry. It must be issued
even the accused fails or
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 don’t submit his/her
explanation.
 It is absolutely essentials that
the enquiry should be held in
the presence of accused. If,
however, he/she fails to be
present on the specific date
and time, the Enquiry Officer
may proceed with the ex-
parte enquiry, provided, the
notice of enquiry contains a
provision to that effect.
 If the accused worker desires,
he/she may be allowed the
assistance of another worker
in the conduct of his defense
or allowed to sit as an
observer. Since this is a
domestic enquiry, outsider,
i.e., non-company employees
must not be allowed either to
sit as an observer or even as
witness in support of the
accused.
5th Stage:  The most important step in
Conducting the procedure of disciplinary
Enquiry action is the actual holding of
enquiry. The enquiry should
be conducted by an impartial
and responsible officer. He
should proceed in a proper
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 manner and examine witness.
Fair opportunity should be
given to the worker to cross-
examine the management
witness.
 The purpose of departmental
enquiry:
 To give an opportunity to
the accused to defend
him/herself; and
 To give an opportunity to
the employer to assess the
merits of the case and to
decide penalty;
6th Stage:  On the conclusion of the
Enquiry Report enquiry, the enquiry officer
will summaries the case and
submits reports (facts and
findings) to the management.
It is for the Management to
study the report and satisfy
them whether the charges
against the worker have been
proved or not, on the
evidence recorded at the
enquiry.
 As far as possible he should
refrain from recommending
punishment and leave it to
the decision of the
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 appropriate authority.
7th Stage: The management should
Awarding decide the punishment on the
Punishment basis of findings of the enquiry,
past record of the worker and
gravity of the misconduct.
8th Stage:  The final step is the letter
Communicating informing the accused the
Punishment punishment, which has been
decided to be given to
him/her by the management.
The letter of communication
should contain reference to
the charge sheet, the enquiry
and the findings. The date
from which the punishment is
to be effective should also be
mentioned.
 If, after the enquiry, the
accused is found not guilty,
he/she should be exonerated
from the charges. The
‘exoneration’ must be the
word to be used in official
letter and not withdrawal or
dropped etc. The technical
effect of exoneration and
withdrawal of charges are
quite different.

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A CHARGE SHEET SHOULD CONTAIN THE
FOLLOWING:
 The exact nature of misconduct;
 The particulars of misconduct; exact date and
time of the misconduct;
 The name of the person(s) connected with the
charge;
 The place or shift in which the worker concerned
was on duty on the day of commission of the
reported misconduct; and
 It should direct the worker concerned to submit
his explanation in writing and he should be given
not less than seven days’ time to explain.

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THE CHARGE-SHEET SHOULD NOT MENTION
THE FOLLOWING:

 The worker has committed or is guilty of

commission or commission of misconduct
because such expression will reflect that the
employer has already made up his mind; and

 It should not be long and verbose and should

not lack in furnishing the most relevant
information on the misconduct;

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PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL JUSTICE
Despite best efforts, acts of indiscipline occur and
it becomes necessary to take a disciplinary action.
While taking disciplinary action the following
“principles of natural justice” should be followed:
 No one should be condemned or punished
without being given an opportunity to explain
his/her conduct and the charges brought
against him/her.
 The employee charged should be given an
opportunity of adducing all relevant evidence
on which he/she relies.
 The employee should be given the right to
cross examine management’s evidence.
 The evidence of management should be taken
in the presence of the employee.

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PRINCIPLES OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION
 The enquiry against the employee should be
fair and impartial.
 The punishment award should not be out of
proportion to the misconduct committed.
 Disciplinary action should be taken in private
so as not to hurt the ego and social status of
the employee.
 Disciplinary action should be applied by the
immediate superior;
 An immediate supervisor must not be
disciplined in presence of his own
subordinates; and
 Disciplinary action should be consistent for all.
 The supervisor’s behavior towards the
employee should remain as it was before the
disciplinary action.

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