Disciplinary Process
1. Meta Information
1.1. Definition
The disciplinary process is a procedure in which a possible offense is examined and, if necessary, sanctioned. The legal basis in Switzerland is the Code of Obligations and the Labor Law.
1.2. Purpose
It is important to ensure VSHNeers understand the consequences of violating company or employee policies, or engaging in any other unacceptable behavior, to prevent and handle situations in which VSHNeers violate policies and actively go against VSHN values.
1.3. Applicability and Referenced Documents
This process is applicable on any violation of decided and written company policies and regulations. It’s also applicable to unacceptable behavior that goes against team internal working and collaboration agreements or when behaving (based on People Operations documented report) way out of our VSHN Values.
- Non-conclusive list of referenced policies and documents
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Information Security Management System (ISMS)
Information Security Policies and Processes -
Time Off Policy
Vacation budget, sick leave, requesting time off, yearly carry-over limitations, etc. -
Working Hours Policy
Overtime, minimum and maximum working time, time tracking, mutual flexibility, etc.
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This policy relates ISO 27002:2022 to control A.6.4.
2. Procedure
We distinguish four stages of a disciplinary procedure:
2.1. First Announcement: Employee review
Participant: Employee / People Operations Role
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People Operations should conduct a designated interview to identify any wrongdoing and provide an explanation of the VSHN’s expectations.
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Measures are defined with the employee to prevent future wrongdoing.
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The employee is shown the consequences of further wrongdoing.
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Whether the offense was intentional (malicious) or unintentional (accidental) must be documented.
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It must be in writing and will be placed in the personnel file.
2.2. Warning (Second Warning): "Yellow card."
Participant: Employee / People Operations Role
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Employee objectively continues to violate employment duties.
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Examples:
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Refusal to work: Refusing or interrupting work without a justifiable reason.
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Failure to comply with information security regulations.
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Actively working to undermine VSHN’s values.
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People operations clearly formulate the wrongdoing in writing and substantiate it with examples.
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People operations issue a warning letter and point out the consequences of further wrongdoing (for example, final warning/termination).
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People operations and the employee establish an action plan to address misconduct (Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)). This includes a timetable and specifies objectives to improve the behavior.
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It must be in writing and will be placed in the personnel file.
2.3. Final Warning letter (last chance warning): "red card."
Participants: Employee / People Operations Role
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Further disregard of warning by employee → Lack of willingness to improve on the part of the employee.
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Suspension of the automatic wage increase (for one year)
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Analog 2: Formal request to refrain from certain behavior/action and warning of next measure in case of further wrongdoing: Termination.
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It must be in writing and will be placed in the personnel file.
2.4. Cancellation
Participants: Employee / People Operations Role + People Role
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Termination process, see Employment Terminations.
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Consult legal counsel if necessary
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It must be in writing and will be placed in the personnel file.
3. Communication of this Disciplinary Process
This process is part of the employment contract.
The process is published in the VSHN Handbook.
This policy is tracked with VIP-294