corrective action process

What is Corrective Action?

Corrective action entails measuring improvements to an organization’s processes to eliminate causes of nonconformities or other unwanted circumstances. It is usually a set of steps, laws, or regulations an organization must take in documentation, procedures, or systems to rectify and eliminate recurring non-compliance.

The corrective action process begins with a problem that has been identified and ends with an agreeable resolution between the parties involved. When employees are not meeting expectations or broken rules, we show how to take corrective action in a professional, non-attacking manner. We help establish procedures and guidelines to ensure consistency, fairness, and employment compliance.

disciplinary action for employees

Corrective action is not considered “discipline” or a discharge and is primarily focused on improving the employee’s performance, attendance, or conduct.

Consistency, Fairness and Compliance

When employees are not meeting expectations or rules have been broken, we show how to take corrective action in a professional, non-attacking manner. We help establish procedures and guidelines to ensure consistency, fairness, and employment compliance.

Improvement

Corrective action is not considered “discipline” and is primarily focused on improving the employee’s performance, attendance, or conduct. Your goal is to guide the employee to correct performance, participation, or behavior, not to punish the employee.

Corrective & Preventative

Corrective action: Action taken to eliminate the causes of a negative situation and stop the behavior from repeating. Preventive action: Action taken to prevent the occurrence from happening in the first place. RCA: Root Cause Analysis is an analytical method that helps identify and rectify the potential causes of the problem.

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The Corrective Action plan includes:

  • We provide procedures, forms, and processes for taking corrective actions, including discharge terminations.
  • You receive an Exit Interview Questionnaire to track turnover.
  • Termination checklists and forms.
  • You will learn how to create helpful unemployment claims guidelines.
  • Department of Labor responses and preparing to defend terminations.
  • Protecting against wrongful terminations and preserving “At-Will” status.
  • Clear policy guidelines on when and how to take corrective action.
  • Addressing performance challenges positively, without causing defensiveness, low morale, or legal trouble.
  • When and how to discharge employees.
  • Help with winning unemployment insurance claims.
  • We will provide guideline implementations that are easy to comprehend. 
  • We address performance challenges without causing defensiveness, low morale, or legal issues.
  • Unemployment insurance claim measurements to define a winning strategy.

We offer professionally designed corrective action and discharge plans.

Five action steps:

Both policies and standards should outline the corrective action process if the “rules” are broken. The most common method is:

  • Verbal Warning
  • Written Warning
  • Final Written Warning
  • Suspension
  • Separation

Considerations:

Options you want to consider during the process:

  • Is this temporary? If so, were you suspended with or without pay? 
  • Will the employee be demoted to a lower-class position? 
  • If corrective action has been taken and the steps have failed, you may find dismissal your only option. 

Some employers worry that action taken after a work injury will look like retaliation. To get past this belief, employers must apply corrective action consistently for all broken rules. For example, if one employee breaks the rules and doesn’t hurt himself or damage property, he should be written up the same way as someone who wasn’t so lucky. It is also essential to document progressive action. Take each of the five steps above unless a serious infraction has occurred. Don’t skip action steps out of anger or frustration.

Situations that require corrective action:

  • A decline in employee job performance.
  • An employee is angry or withdrawn.
  • The employee is consistently complaining.
  • They ignore constructive criticism.
  • Their behavior is negatively affecting others.
  • Attendance issues.

Creating a plan of action includes documented conversations that clearly define the: laid out expectations of the employee, taking action to immediately cease the activities during the investigative state, finding the cause and the people accountable for the problem, determining the action steps needed to resolve the issue, and monitoring the action’s results. 

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