Employment lawyer explains why ‘doing the right thing is almost invariably doing the wrong thing’ when it comes to progressive discipline
When it comes to discipline and just cause dismissals, there is no room for being nice, and an Alberta labour board decision from last week perfectly illustrates this.
The decision saw an insubordinate employee awarded damages for wrongful dismissal, because the employer failed to thoroughly document disciplinary action before firing him for just cause.
The board’s decision detailed how the employer preferred to rely on “verbal coaching”, and that “If they documented every instance of wrongdoing, it would be debilitating to the employer/employee relationship.”
Howard Levitt, employment lawyer with Levitt LPP, says that this is a common mistake employers make when disciplining employees: being too lenient, and not documenting consistently.
“I have a saying that I tell my corporate clients: 'Doing the right thing is almost invariably doing the wrong thing,'” he says.
“Trying to be nice is going to come back and bite you. You've got to be tough, you've got to be relentless.”
In the decision, X-treme Packaging Services Inc. v. Savoie, the board found that the employer’s informal approach to discipline – opting for verbal coaching and avoiding written warnings – ultimately undermined its case.
There were “a number of times on various matters” including a quality complaint and performance...
Top News The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says the Federal Government’s high-level delegation currently in the United States is actively confronting and corre...