What this guide covers
When an employee accumulates verbal warnings in the Incident Log, the system opens a disciplinary escalation - a step on a formal ladder. The Disciplinary Escalations inbox is where HR sees those open steps and closes the loop by recording the real-world action taken.
Who can open it: attendance-module access. A line manager sees their team's escalations; an attendance admin sees all. The content is sensitive - keep it confidential.
Where escalations come from
Escalations are opened automatically by the Incident Log (QIL). When an employee's count of verbal-warning sanctions in a rolling 90-day window reaches the configured threshold (3 by default; HR can change it in the HrIncident configuration group), the system opens one escalation at First Written Warning, exactly once, at the moment the count crosses the threshold. Its note reads along the lines of "Auto-triggered by Incident Log: 3 verbal warnings in 90 days (latest INC-…). Initiate a formal disciplinary hearing."
An escalation is never created by hand here - this inbox is for resolving what the Incident Log triggered.
Before 4 September 2026 escalations were also opened by confirmed attendance strikes, with a separate threshold per rung. That strike ladder was retired; attendance alerts are now either excused or turned into an Incident Log entry (see Attendance Alerts). The old per-rung strike thresholds are no longer read. Historical escalations from that system remain visible.
The ladder
- Verbal Warning — counselling or a first-instance warning. Track 1 of the Incident Log lands here.
- First Written Warning — the first formal written step. This is the rung the automatic escalation opens.
- Second Written Warning — a second formal written warning, between first and final.
- Final Written Warning — the last step before a hearing.
- Referred to Dismissal Hearing — referral to a hearing. This is a procedural step, not an outcome; the ladder has no "dismissed" rung.
Every rung can be imposed as a sanction on an Incident Log incident by HR. Only the First Written Warning rung is opened automatically by the verbal-warning threshold.
Working the inbox
Each row shows the employee, the Level (labelled from the ladder above), the Strike Count that triggered it (for Incident Log escalations this is the number of verbal warnings in the window), when it was Triggered, who triggered it (or "Auto"), the Status (Open / Resolved), and any Notes.
For an Open escalation, click Issue Warning to open the Issue Warning / Close Loop dialog. Record in Resolution Notes what was actually done in the real world (e.g. "Verbal counselling conducted on 23 Apr 2026", "Written warning letter signed and filed") and confirm with Close Loop — Warning Issued. The escalation then shows as Resolved.
Good to know
- The system tracks; you act. Opening an escalation doesn't discipline anyone - it prompts HR to follow the company's disciplinary process, then record it here.
- Write meaningful resolution notes - they're the audit trail that the loop was closed properly.
- Fairness and confidentiality matter - follow due process and don't share these records.
Related guides
- Attendance Alerts - where attendance warnings are excused or turned into Incident Log entries.
- My Incidents: if an incident is raised about you - the employee's view of an Incident Log entry.
- Disciplinary Report - the per-employee whole-picture view (in Human Resources).