Employee Written Warning

An Employee Written Warning is used when an employer needs to reprimand or warn an employee for a workplace infraction. Often, an Employee Written Warning is sent after an employer (or someone within the employer's company in a position of authority, such as an HR Manager or Supervisor) has noticed that an employee has been engaging in behaviour that is unacceptable or prohibited, such as frequent lateness, absence of work without notice, breach of the company's policy, and more.

An Employee Written Warning is usually not the first step when an employee engages in problematic behaviour. An employer is required to provide an employee with feedback about his or her work, especially if there is something that needs to be improved. Progressive discipline is a term that refers to the ongoing warnings that an employer may issue to an employee about their job performance. For instance, it may start with a verbal warning, followed by a series of written warning if the issue continues.

An Employee Written Warning is used to keep an official record of the employee's problematic behaviour. If the employee continues with their non-compliance, an Employee Written Warning may be the first step in the eventual termination of their employment.

An Employer Written Warning contains details about the behaviour so that both the employee and the employer are in agreement about the problematic behaviour and the corrective measures that need to be taken.

How to use this document

This document can be used when an employer, or a person of authority within the employer's organization, needs a template for a written warning to send to an employee. In this document, questions will be asked to establish what kind of behaviour or infraction is taking place. Choices will be given for attendance issues, general poor performance, or violations of company rules or policies. There is also space to draft new information about the employee infraction if none of the choices are relevant.

The letter includes identifying information for each party, details of the infraction, consequences for the infraction, and has space for the employee to sign an acknowledgment that the letter was received.

Once the document has been filled out, it must be signed by the employer and delivered to the employee. The employer should keep a copy of the warning in the employee's file.

Applicable Law

There are no laws outlining what must be put into an Employee Written Warning. There are, however, some overall accepted practices for creating such documents, including making sure the information is robust enough so that the employee knows what they did wrong and how to correct it. Furthermore, each province and territory has laws and regulations dictating what may be done in an employment context. For example, in many jurisdictions, to terminate an employee for cause, there must be records of progressive discipline.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.