Verbal Warnings

[Christel]

A friend of mine has been issued with a verbal warning because of his "attitude"... i.e. the boss received complaints from other employees about my friend's attitude. When he (my friend) asked for examples, none could be supplied and it was put down to "many small" issues, that amounts to an overall bad vibe. The boss did say that he has no issues w.r.t. this employees work or standard of work, but feels that he should correct his attitude.... but as mentioned above, they could not give him any examples, so he is a bit confused as to "how" to correct his "bad attitude".

Does he have any rights? He seems to think he is being set-up by co-workers that don't like him. Would this verbal warning have any merit?

Thanks.

[HR Solutions]

Christel do YOU think he has an attitude problem or do you think he is a person that fits in with all with no attitude, as a friend ?

[Christel]

Hi HR Solutions,
I think he might be misunderstood by some collegues from time to time. He is at least 13-15 years older than most of the other staff members and his way of doing things might not agree to their ways. But, the fact that his work is still acceptable to the management, surely that must weigh more than other people's comments about attitude? And he also have a very dry sense of humour, maybe they don't "get" it? But as I said, this is all confusing to him as the boss could not give any concrete evidence so that he can explain his side & way of thinking...

[HR Solutions]

I think that pretty much explains it then. He is good at his job, but does have an "attitude" problem therefore the VERBAL warning so that he can perhaps look within, change some of his ways and fit in with the rest of the crowd. It certainly does not sound as if he is being "set up" by his co-workers. Maybe they don't like his way of looking at things. The boss needs them all to get on therefore he needs to act appropriately. A lot of people think that a company must change towards them because of their "dry" sense of humour or because of "his" way of doing things, but they are wrong. They are the ones that must change for the company !

It sounds like he has only been with the company for a short time ? He should be the one to fit in.

[Christel]

Thanks - I appreciate the feedback. He has been at the company for about 10 years. Never had any negative feedback untill now recently. I will pass it on to him, I'm sure we all need a "look into yourself" session every now and then. He needs to see this as a chance to correct possible negative behaviour and hopefully all will work out.

[HR Solutions]

Thanks - I appreciate the feedback. He has been at the company for about 10 years. Never had any negative feedback untill now recently. I will pass it on to him, I'm sure we all need a "look into yourself" session every now and then. He needs to see this as a chance to correct possible negative behaviour and hopefully all will work out.

Ok so he has been there quite long, so perhaps there is a new younger generation of people now working there that he does not get on with. Or perhaps complacency has set in a bit.

But yes it is strange that the company could not explain a bit more, especially after 10 years service.
It does sound like something else is a factor here, which cannot really be answered without knowing what the full story is.

[Christel]

I spoke to him just now and he is still wondering why the boss would give the warning, but when he asked for specific examples the boss could not give anything concrete. He wants to know if this verbal warning has any "leg to stand on" if nothing could be shown to him to back the warning. Can he put his side of everything on an email to the boss to be place alongside with the verbal warning in his personell file?

[CLIVE-TRIANGLE]

Think it through...

A warning, verbal or written is a sanction or penalty.
Which can only be the result of a disciplinary process.
Which is a formal process of which the employee should be given fair notice and details of "charges".

It is somewhat absurd to expect someone to guess what it is about their attitude that's become a burr in your butt. Or is it just me?

[HR Solutions]

I spoke to him just now and he is still wondering why the boss would give the warning, but when he asked for specific examples the boss could not give anything concrete. He wants to know if this verbal warning has any "leg to stand on" if nothing could be shown to him to back the warning. Can he put his side of everything on an email to the boss to be place alongside with the verbal warning in his personell file?

I cannot answer if the verbal warning has any leg to stand on as I don't have all the facts.
But I'm sure that he can put his side on an e mail for record.

[Christel]

Clive- thanks - this is exactly what he feels... he asked for examples and none was given.
My friend works in an office alone, the people that complained about his "attitude" works in a different office, about 10km away. The only contact he have with them is via telephone or emails. He cannot pin-point a single instance that he might have insulted anyone. Most of the time he does not even speak to them. His work is not dependent on any of them and they might from time to time aks info from him, but this is not often.
The verbal warning was given to him without any prior notice that he should meet with the boss - nothing. He was attending a general managers meeting at the main office and was then just called in to the bosses office and presented with the verbal warning.

HR Solutions - thanks - I think if it was me, I would like to place "my side" of things on a piece of paper for future reference. He and the boss was the only 2 people in this meeting, so there was no witnesses to verify anything.

Just another quesion: the verbal warning is valid for 6 months. After this time period, would the boss have to review the allegations and report back to the employee to say "yes, it has improved"? How will he know if he is on the right track? Can he ask for a "re-evaluation of his attitude" in about 1 months time? Surely there must be constant feedback so that he knows he is improving, although he does not know what he is supposed to be improving on?

[CLIVE-TRIANGLE]

Just another quesion: the verbal warning is valid for 6 months. After this time period, would the boss have to review the allegations and report back to the employee to say "yes, it has improved"? How will he know if he is on the right track? Can he ask for a "re-evaluation of his attitude" in about 1 months time? Surely there must be constant feedback so that he knows he is improving, although he does not know what he is supposed to be improving on?

In labour law terms, no warning has been issued.

In reality he knows something is cooking. I don't know how he should proceed. I know what I would do; I would sign up with Solidarity and keep them in the loop. One thing I can guarantee; this is not the last he is going to hear of this and by the sounds of things he is no youngster and getting other work is not going to be a cinch.

[Christel]

This is really frustrating. I really feel bad for him as I have known him for years and I know that he will not deliberately be ugly to people or cause a stir. I know he values his work highly and always try to do his best. I think this is just a whole misinterpretation of emails and phone calls etc.
Thanks for all the input.

[adrianh]

I agree that it is absurd to give somebody a warning and not be able to tell him exactly what he is being warned about. How can you give a person a warning for having a bad attitude;

define bad attitude!

Lets say I expect my staff to tell white lies to my customers about the status of jobs - we all do... now 6 staff members are willing to do so and 1 refuses because he says he doesn't want to lie...does he have a bad attitude?

Lets say everybody like to go for a beer at lunch time and talk rubbish (we call it team building) and one guy doesn't, does he have a bad attitude?

Lets say everybody agree with everything the boss says to his face yet everybody knows that the boss is a jackass and one guy stands up to the boss - does he have a bad attitude?

Unless they quantify exactly what it is they consider to be a bad attitude it could be absolutely anything whatsoever. Another problem is that people don't always know what s attitude and what is not, I tend to be deep in thought and seem to ignore people, doesn't mean that I ignore them, it means that I am simply oblivious to their presence (Yes, I did get k@kked on for ignoring people and not greeting them in the passage)

I think that the boss should get a verbal warning for giving him and absurd verbal warning! This is typical corporate cr@p!

[Dave A]

A verbal warning essentially ranks much the same as counselling.
It can go down in the employee record, and could be raised as part of the disciplinary record of the employee in a formal disciplinary process down the line. The effect of a single verbal warning on any sanction would be negligible though.

Still, there is smoke, and I wouldn't let it be if I didn't understand what was causing the problem. (And I mean what rather than who!)

Based on my experience in these things, and without further insight into possible complexities that might make such a course of action a poor option, I'd recommend setting up a meeting between the parties concerned.

Certainly not a formal disciplinary, but a formal meeting none the less (I'd suggest under the chairmanship of the boss or an HR manager if there is one) to see that the issue(s) are better defined, better understood by all, and from there hopefully resolved.

This should be seen as a proactive measure to resolve any possible misunderstands / the problem and should be approached in a positive spirit. (Anyone who doesn't approach this in a positive spirit does indeed have an attitude problem ).