Written warnings and disciplinary dismissal:documenting it so it stands

Why the written warning comes first

A written warning is the first level of penalty. It tells the employee about the breach and gives them a chance to put it right before anything more serious. For absence, it is a required step before dismissal.

If an employer dismisses someone for continuous or intermittent absence without a documented written warning, the dismissal may be overturned. Article 80 requires a written warning after twenty days of intermittent absence and after ten days of continuous absence.

A verbal warning does not replace a written one, however many times it is given. You need a dated document that proves the employee knew what they were accused of.

What a warning must contain

A warning that will hold up covers six points. If any is missing, the warning can be disputed:

1. 01The breach, described precisely with its date and time, not a vague phrase such as «repeated underperformance».
2. 02The clause of the approved work regulations it is based on.
3. 03The level of penalty, and whether this is a first or repeat breach, with any earlier penalties.
4. 04What will happen if it happens again, stated clearly so the employee knows.
5. 05The date the employee was notified and their signature confirming receipt, or proof of delivery if they refuse to sign.
6. 06A reference to the hearing minutes where the penalty is more than one day's pay.

Deadlines for taking action

An employee cannot be charged with a breach discovered more than thirty days earlier, and a penalty cannot be imposed more than thirty days after the breach was established. An employer that waits or investigates too slowly loses the right to act.

A penalty cannot be increased for a repeat breach if one hundred and eighty days have passed since the previous breach, counted from the date the employee was notified of it. After that, the count starts again.

Because both deadlines run from notification, not from the date of the breach, every warning needs a recorded notification date.

Article 80 dismissal is a separate route

Dismissal without gratuity, notice, or compensation is only allowed in the cases listed in Article 80. These include assault, failing to carry out essential obligations, acts involving dishonour or breach of trust, disclosing confidential information, and absence that reaches the limits set in the article.

It is not the next step after a warning and a fine. It is a separate route with its own conditions. If an employee's case is not covered by Article 80, they cannot be dismissed under it, however many breaches they have committed.

It has two procedural conditions. The employee must be given a chance to state their case, and the contract must be ended within the set period from when the incident was established. If either is skipped, the dismissal is void.

Dismissal versus termination without lawful cause

Ending a contract without lawful cause is not a breach in itself, since an employer is allowed to end a contract. But it means paying compensation: fifteen days' wage per year of service for an indefinite contract, or the wage for the rest of the term for a fixed-term one, and not less than two months' wage unless the contract sets other compensation (Article 77).

An Article 80 dismissal carries no compensation or gratuity. That is why some employers try to present an ordinary termination as a disciplinary dismissal. It is a serious risk: if the dismissal fails, the employer owes the gratuity, compensation, and payment in place of notice together.

Use disciplinary dismissal only when the evidence is complete and every step of the procedure was followed. Otherwise, an ordinary termination with compensation costs less and is far safer.

Where all of this is kept

Warnings, minutes, and dismissal decisions are evidence. Whoever defends the employer a year or two later will need them, and they are only useful if they are linked to the incident, its date, and the person who issued them.

If they are kept in the employee file in the system, linked to the attendance record showing the absence or lateness and to an audit log of who issued what and when, the full file is ready in minutes. Nobody has to piece it together from messages and folders.