Raising an incident (formal or verbal)

What this guide covers

How a manager logs a disciplinary incident: choosing the employee, the track and the category, writing the objective facts, and what happens once you raise it.

Who can do this: the incident-create permission. You can raise an incident about someone you manage; HR admins, and holders of the "any employee" grant, can raise about anyone. Confidential.

The Incident List

The list is your starting point: the incidents you raised, plus any waiting for your decision (as the employee's manager, as next-level manager after day 5, or as HR). It shows the number, employee, category, track, status, incident date and any sanction. Click a number to open it; click New Incident to log one.

Logging a new incident

Employee: who it is about.
Incident date/time.
Track: Verbal Warning / Counselling (needs the "log verbal warnings" permission; the starting verdict is a verbal warning) or Formal Incident Report (a written-warning process). Either way the employee is asked for their statement, and the employee's manager then decides, up to a Second Written Warning. HR decides anything heavier.
Offence category: Timekeeping, Attendance / Absenteeism, Safety Violation, Poor Work Standard, Negligence, Insubordination, Misconduct, Dishonesty / Theft, Policy Breach, Assault / Violence / Threats, Harassment, Under the influence (alcohol / drugs), or Other.
Objective facts and any evidence.

Choose the category that fits the conduct. Dishonesty / Theft, Assault / Violence / Threats, Harassment and Under the influence always go to HR, and the manager cannot decide them. Choosing a milder category to avoid that breaches the policy.

The employee's record, while you raise

As soon as you pick the employee, the form shows their record: earlier incidents with their outcomes, which warnings still count and until when, and the next rung on the ladder. It updates when you change the category, and marks earlier incidents of the same category. If the record points past a verbal warning, the Formal track fits.

The record is shown only to the employee's managers and HR. If you raise an incident from outside the employee's line, you see a short note instead.

What happens when you raise it

The incident is Awaiting Employee's Statement and the employee is notified, with a link.
The 24-hour reply window starts now if the employee is at work today, or at their next clock-in if they are off.
Tell the employee face to face, in a language they understand.
Nothing can be decided until their statement is in or the window lapses. The next steps are in Deciding an incident: the statement, the verdict, referral and HR.

Writing good facts

Stick to objective facts: what happened, when, where, who saw it, and which rule applies. No opinions about the person.
You can amend the facts only before the employee acknowledges. After that they are frozen; to correct a mistake, withdraw the incident and raise a new one.

Withdrawing

Withdraw, with a reason, only an incident raised in error, and only before the verdict. Once HR has the incident, referred or taken over, only HR can withdraw it. An allegation you investigated and found baseless is not withdrawn: close it as Not upheld, which clears the employee on the record.

Deciding an incident: the statement, the verdict, referral and HR: the next step.
My Incidents: if an incident is raised about you: the employee's side.
The Incident Log (QIL): how a disciplinary incident works: the overview and the lifecycle.