The main purpose of a disciplinary action is to help the employee concerned, not to punish him/her. A disciplinary action is applied when a department, unit or office cannot do its best work because of an employee’s actions or behavior.
An employee’s breach of conduct may be a major or minor one. Each incident is judged independently because circumstances surrounding the incident can affect its degree of severity.
In general, disciplinary action may take the form of a verbal warning, written warning, disciplinary probation, suspension or dismissal. Dismissal is the most severe form of disciplinary action and is usually resorted to only when other measures have failed. In any case, the employee is always given the opportunity to give his / her version of the incident.
If an employee believes that he / she has been treated unfairly, he / she has the right to an audience with his / her superior.
For more complicated cases, the Voluntary Arbitration Procedure, as established under the authority of Policy of Instructions Nos. 26 and 28 issued by the Department of Labor on June 7 and September 1, 1977, respectively may be adopted to expeditiously settle and finally terminate complaints as they arise.
