Employee Write-up Form: How to Create & Use One (+ Free Templates)

An employee should first receive a verbal warning as part of aprogressive discipline policy. This warning should be documented as a precursor to a formal written warning if the employee does not improve their performance or behavior.

If the employee has already received a verbal warning or a prior written warning, you need to mark the form accordingly. The purpose of doing so is to communicate to the employee the increased severity of their actions and ensure your company remains compliant by following a fair and equitable process for all employees.

Your employee write-up form should include a reason for the corrective discipline. Regardless of the reason, be honest. It may be easier to discipline the employee for a lesser offense, but that will help no one. Your employee will not be focused on fixing the core problem—and you’ll still have a worker who needs redirection and support. Even though it’s more difficult, honesty is the best policy.

Common reasons for an employee write-up include:

• Violation of company policies, including excessive tardiness or unexcused absences
• Failure to meet company goals and metrics
• Violation of safety policies

Providing vague reasons or one-word responses will lead to employees being confused. When employees are unsure of why they’re being reprimanded, they can become disengaged and frustrated, having the opposite effect of what you intend. Most employees want to know if they’re not meeting your standards, and they also want to know, specifically, what went wrong and how they can improve. Giving vague reasons makes employees feel you’re setting them up to fail.

Whenever you write an employee up, you need to include brief notes about prior verbal warnings or write-ups that relate to the present action. Including the history makes it easy for everyone involved to understand why this next step is being taken.

Ensure that you have documentation of your prior discussions on this topic with this employee. You can keep this section short by referring back to those documents for additional information.

Describing what they need to do to improve their performance or behavior is the most crucial part of the employee write-up form. As the employee’s manager, one part of your role is to ensure your team has the tools to succeed. If you have an employee who is missing deadlines or turning in poor work, it’s your responsibility to redirect them and provide the support they need.

When defining the corrective action necessary, be specific. Include milestones or checkpoints and a timeline to review their performance. Describe how you will be actionably involved and available to help them become successful.

Discuss what’s next if the employee does not correct their performance or behavior. That could include another write-up or even termination. Be sure to keep this consistent with your company’s progressive discipline policy.

Signatures are proof that you and the employee spoke about the write-up. Getting the employee to sign a document proves they received and reviewed it.

While most employees will sign, some may protest. They may disagree with what is written or simply do not want to acknowledge you provided them with a copy of the write-up. If you encounter this scenario, you can provide space for the employee to write a rebuttal, which can give employees peace of mind that their points are being heard.

However, some employees simply refuse to sign a write-up. If this happens, don’t get combative. Instead, document that you gave the employee a copy of the write-up but they refused to sign. Then, have a member of HR sign the document, attesting that the employee received a copy but refused to sign.

One of the best ways to ensure that employees sign the write-up is to put acknowledgment language on their signature block stating that the employee only acknowledges they have received the document, not that they agree with everything written.