Chronic tardiness requires a documented response — not just repeated conversations.  Here is the full process from first conversation through formal discipline.

An employee keeps coming in out of dress code and informal reminders have not worked.  Here is how to address it as a conduct issue while avoiding common legal pitfalls.

An employee bypassed you and went directly to your boss.  Here is how to address it professionally, reset the reporting relationship, and prevent it from happening again.

An employee is consistently taking credit for work done by others.  Here is how to address it as a conduct issue while managing the team dynamic it has created.

An employee's conduct toward customers is damaging your business.  Here is how to address it directly, document it correctly, and hold the standard without losing the employee unnecessarily.

Workplace gossip that damages reputations, undermines colleagues, or affects team morale is a conduct issue, not just a personality quirk.  Here is how to address it.

A negative attitude is a real performance issue even when the work product is strong.  Here is how to address it specifically and hold the standard without losing the output.

Learn when to contest an unemployment claim, how to respond, and why documentation and progressive discipline records determine the outcome.

Learn the documentation, consistency, and progressive discipline process that protects small businesses from legal risk when disciplining employees.

Learn how to document employee performance issues correctly with specific, defensible examples. See what to write, what to avoid, and how to create documentation that holds up in terminations and legal reviews.

Employee ignored a written warning? Here’s exactly how to escalate with a final warning, proper documentation, and legally sound progressive discipline steps.

Your manager reversed a disciplinary decision you made.  It's frustrating, it may have undermined your authority, and now you're not sure what to do.  Here's how to handle it.

An employee starts crying in the middle of a difficult conversation.  What do you do? Most managers panic or abandon the message.  Here's a better approach.

Most new managers make the same progressive discipline mistakes, and most of them create more problems than they solve.  Here are the 7 mistakes to avoid and what to do instead.

Knowing the steps of progressive discipline is one thing. Knowing what to actually say at each one is another. Here are real examples of what each conversation sounds like, verbal warning through termination.

Writing your first employee written warning? Here's what it needs to include, what to avoid, and how to deliver it so it holds up if the situation escalates.

An employee was arrested for a DUI off the clock.  Are you required to fire them? The answer depends on the role, your policy, and your state.  Here's what to consider.

A progressive discipline policy gives managers a consistent, defensible process for addressing performance and conduct issues. Here's how to write one for your small business.