Disciplinary Record Keeping

mmceneany · September 2002

Is there a limit on the amount of time a written warning can stay in a personnel file or must it be removed after a certain period? We are a non-union shop and our personnel policy is silent.

Thank you.

Don D · September 2002

mmceneany: Here's a helpful hint, I hope. Go up to the gereral employment law subject area and select that one. Then scroll down a bit until you see "Do you ever remove documentation?" We've been batting that one around this week. Hope it helps.

Susan Fentin MA · September 2002

No there is no specific time period for retaining disciplinary notices in employees' personnel files. Massachusetts law says that if an employee wants to have something removed from his/her personnel file, he/seh can ask, but if the employer doesn't want to remove it, the employee's only recourse is to submit a written rebuttal and then that rebuttal must also be included in the file. Hope this is helpful!
Susan Fentin
Associate Editor
Skoler Abbott & Presser
[email]Sfentin@skoler-abbott.com[/email]

System · February 2003

The policy our agency uses is if there are no further infractions after one year the documentation is destroyed. Also any documentation pertaining to any discipline is destroyed when the employee departs the agency.

I hope this will be helpful. However if high-ups want the documentation retained, you should annotate that on the form with the date.

Diane Messick · March 2003

Just a note - Be sure to keep all disciplinary write-ups separate from the employees personnel file. I have a 3 files in 3 separate locations - 1 Medical - 1 Disciplinary - 1 Personnel. Anyone can have access to their personnel file but the disciplinary file is for managers only and the medical file is for HR only. Our company policy states that all disciplinary actions are based on a rolling calendar year.

Don D · March 2003

I see no reason to keep disciplinary writeups out of the personnel file. The ee already saw it and should even have a copy of it and managers have a right to see them if they indeed have a right to be in the file in the first place. I have never heard of separating out these documents. Nor would I suggest trashing them upon termination. They are often critical in re-hire decisions. And these HR guys who put "Rehire yes or no" on files and have no backup for it are courting disaster.

POPEYE · March 2003

I agree with Don. There was a thread a few days ago about re-hires. It had been the "norm" before I got here to destroy disciplinary notes at termination. Had those still been in the file, a couple of the re-hires that backfired would not have happened.

Theresa Gegen TX · March 2003

like original sin or a screw-up in grade school that goes on your permanent record, there is no law that requires it to be destroyed!!

LindaS · March 2003

Our policy states that any employees with write-ups will be allowed to establish a clear record within a "reasonable" amount of time. This timeframe is typically six months. Although the write-up technically remains in their file, if there is another infraction, they revert to the beginning stage (i.e., a verbal written warning). We keep them in their file for historical purposes. We do not keep them in a separate file but rather in their personnel file. I do not think they should be kept in a separate file since the employee has already seen them, had an opportunity to write any type of rebuttal, and knows they are there.

jimlegal · March 2003

Our policy for discipline is a three step policy. Only at the first step will the write up be removed, after a period of one year without any repeat of the problem which created the initial write up. If we reach step two, the step one write up stays in the file along with the step two write up. Step three write ups always stay in the file, usually step three is termination. Hope this information is helpful.

Dutch2 · March 2003

Our program is very similar, except that we do not remove the original counseling forms after one year. We do consider the forms to be non-active if they have been in the personnel file for a full year. For example if the ee was at a step 1 and then 15 months later a similar incident occurs they would receive another step 1 and not a step 2 because the former counseling was over one year old. Hope that helps.

System · March 2003

Since you are non union you can leave it there for the duration of employment if you want or set up a policy on length in file. Union shops negotiate this.

Disciplinary Record Keeping

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