How Long Do You Wait To Discipline An Employee?

The first answer that comes to mind is: You don’t wait. That could be misinterpreted, however, so some explanation is in order. An answer that certainly doesn’t come to mind is: You wait a long time; or You wait for something else to happen; or You wait as long as you like, because it doesn’t matter how long you wait.

If there are grounds for discipline, you don’t wait. This assumes, of course, you’ve investigated the matter to be sure that discipline is in order and that you’ve given the employee a chance to have his or her say. Once grounds for discipline arise, the longer you wait, the more problematic the discipline may become.

If you wait a week or two or even a few days, it opens the door for what can be troublesome questions: If the employee really deserved discipline, what took you so long to administer it? It really wasn’t that big a deal in the first place, was it? Do you always wait that long to impose discipline? Can you give me other examples of when you waited that long where the employee in question was of another race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or age?

You get the idea, I’m sure. Discipline is or should be something serious. Something serious can’t wait. By waiting, you open the door for second-guessing and even discrimination claims. Perhaps most importantly, waiting cheapens the discipline. It sends the wrong message, not just to the employee you’re disciplining, but to all of your other employees. Indeed, you can wait so long that it would be silly and meaningless to impose the discipline at such a late date. Then what do you do the next time?