Positive Discipline in the Workplace

Positive Discipline Manual

• Designed to address problems that negatively impact the department
• Focuses on safety, honesty, and esprit de corps
• Emphasizes communication and expectations for change and improvement
• Aims to minimize punishment, focusing on correcting problems and treating individuals as responsible adults

Recognizing Good Employees

• LVFD SOP 167 exceptional Performance
• Recognition is crucial for job satisfaction
• Rewards for employees who go above and beyond the call of duty.
• Recognition for employees performing diligently over an extended period.
• Avenues for recognition include: FD "employee of the month," City "employee of the month," City Willie W. Davis "employee of the Year," and peer recognition.

Theory of Positive Discipline

• Employees contribute to informal problem resolution through taking responsibility and working to eliminate problems.
• Supervisors and employees working together is seen as the best way to resolve most problems.

Two-Step Process

• Informal Process:
  • Motivation and development is increased to prevent problems.
  • Responsibility is ensured to not ignore issues.
  • Mutually acceptable solutions are discovered for problems that arise.
• Formal Progressive Disciplinary Actions:
  • Attempts to resolve issues informally fail.
  • The employee is not taking responsibility to correct problems.
  • Immediate serious problems that can't be fixed informally.

Problem Occurs

• A discrepancy between management expectations and an employee's success in meeting those expectations.
• Conduct: a mode or standard of personal behavior.

Informal Process

• Goal: prevent problems and quickly eliminate ones that arise.
• Six strategies and techniques are provided for this.
  • Coaching
  • Training
  • Removing obstacles
  • Feedback
  • Consequences
  • Counseling
• These are informal, often spontaneous conversations to support employee learning and development.

Formal Process

• Results from failures in the informal process, or serious problems that can't be handled informally.
• Steps of the Formal Process include:
  • Preparing and conducting an investigative interview
  • Determining if further steps like administrative hearings are needed.
  • Preparing and conducting disciplinary meetings
  • Documentation of actions

Disciplinary Action Steps

• Step 1: written notice with a three-month active lifespan.
• Step 2: written notice with a six-month active lifespan.
• Step 3: suspension with a minimum of a shift up to one work week without pay.
  • Has a twelve-month lifespan.
• Step 4: most serious disciplinary action. 
  • Suspension of one shift with pay (twelve months).
  • Employment termination hearings.

Disciplinary Database Entry

• Database entry must be made following a decision.
• The next-level supervisor must be notified.

Role of the Next-Level Supervisor

• Review to ensure positive discipline process compliance and consistency with previous decisions.
• Identify problems with discipline.
• Correct procedural errors when necessary.
• Confirm the case accurately accounts for similar circumstances.

Rules and Concepts

• Rule 1: Disciplinary actions have a lifespan-Counseling (3 months), Step 1 (3 months), step 2 (6 months), Steps 3 and 4 (12 months).
• Rule 2: Active lifespan duration of issues
• Rule 3: limits on the total number of active actions within each step.

Administrative Hearing

• Scheduled for discipline issues or incidents exceeding step two 
• The employee's ability to explain and the chief's ability to ask questions are important.
• Formal notification of date, time, and location must occur to the employee and union representative.
• There should be sufficient time for preparation and any charges must be reasonable.

Disciplinary Meeting

• Conducted by a supervisor or designee (with a written record)
• The employee's rights for representation will be considered.
• The employee will be notified of the action decision (within 15 days).
• The meeting is not for complaint or argument, but for providing information about appropriate disciplinary action

Documentation

• All disciplinary actions, including counseling sessions, must be documented in the FD disciplinary database.
• Steps 1-4 are filed within the employee's HR file.
• Disciplinary actions can be purged after a specified period.

Termination

• Termination is not a form of discipline, but an administrative act.
• Termination may follow a major serious event or a pattern of failing to meet responsibilities.
• Demotion can be considered as an alternative.

Representation

• Representation is not needed for counseling and smaller incidents.
• Representation is warranted during formal disciplinary meetings.
• A union member must be contacted if the employee requests it and may delay the meeting.
• Supervisors will have to follow procedures for proper handling of any grievance.

This quiz explores the concepts of positive discipline and recognition within the workplace, focusing on safety, communication, and employee motivation. It highlights practices that aim to foster a supportive environment and improve employee performance. Engage with questions about effective recognition techniques and strategies for problem resolution.