Discipline: memos, hearings and appeals
Run a disciplinary case from the memo or show-cause notice to the employee's reply, a committee hearing, the decision and an appeal. Fines are deducted in payroll, unpaid suspension days are cut from the payslip, and every letter is issued from your templates.
PLANSScale only
Why it matters
In a factory or a group of companies, a disciplinary case often ends up in front of a labour officer or a court. What protects you is a clear record: the notice, the reply or its absence, the hearing, the finding and a fair, consistent action. SmartMy HRMS keeps that whole trail on one case. It proposes actions from your own ladder, so the third late-coming gets the same answer in every unit. The result goes straight into payroll: a fine is deducted once and suspension days are cut from the payslip. A final warning keeps the person out of the next increment while it is in force.
The problem it solves
- Show-cause notices are typed in Word, and nobody can find the reply when the case is questioned a year later.
- The same lapse gets a warning in one department and a fine in another, because nobody counts earlier offences.
- A fine or a suspension is decided, but payroll is never told, or is told twice.
- An employee under a final warning gets the full increment because the increment sheet never saw the case.
How it works
- HR, or the employee's reporting manager, opens a case: the employee, the misconduct category, the incident date and what happened. Severity and confidentiality come from the category.
- HR clicks Issue Notice. A memo is issued as a letter and the case closes. A show-cause notice is issued as a letter with a reply due date, 3 days to start with. The employee is told, with the letter attached.
- The employee writes the reply on the web or in the app and clicks Send Reply. With no reply by the due date, the case goes on by itself the next day, noting that no reply came.
- If the category needs it, HR sets up the hearing: the committee, the date and the notes. The action ladder counts the person's earlier proven offences and proposes the actions for this one.
- The committee or HR records the finding and the actions, and clicks Decide. Letters are issued, fines become a payroll deduction, and suspension days are unpaid or half paid.
- The employee can appeal before the deadline (7 days to start with). The committee upholds, changes or revokes the decision; revoking takes back the fine and cancels the letters.
Everything it does
Cases
- Reference numbers like DSC/2026/0001
- Notice: Memo (no reply needed) or Show-cause notice (the default)
- Severity: Minor, Major or Gross Misconduct, from the category and changeable until the decision
- Stages: Draft, Notice Issued, Reply Received, Hearing, Decided, Appealed, Closed, Dropped
- Only a draft case can be deleted; any other is dropped with Drop
Categories and committees
- Six categories come ready: attendance and punctuality, negligence of duty, insubordination, policy violation, harassment, and fraud or theft
- Each category has a default severity, Confidential, and Needs a Committee Hearing with a default committee. Appeal Within (days): 7 to start with, 0 for no appeal
- Harassment and fraud start as confidential and need a committee
- A committee has a chair and members, per Entity
The action ladder
- Rules: from offence number n, in the same category or all categories, from a severity. They count within a period (365 days to start with, 0 for the whole service)
- Ready ladder: first offence counselling or written warning; second a final warning; third suspension without pay; gross misconduct suspension or dismissal
- Ladder Suggests shows the offence number and the proposed actions; HR or the committee can change them
Actions and what they do
- Effects: counselling or note on file, warning, final warning, fine, suspension, increment or promotion withheld, demotion, termination
- Each action has a Seriousness, In Force (months), Blocks Increments While in Force, and the letter to issue
- Fine: a Default Fine (500 on the ready Fine action) that becomes a deduction in the next payroll, under the salary component the Entity chooses
- Suspension: Suspension Days (5 on the ready action) and pay: Without pay, Half pay (subsistence allowance) or Full pay. The days are cut from the payslip
- Committee Decision Only: ready for suspension and dismissal; such actions need a hearing first
- Dismissal adds a to-do for the person who decided, to start the separation
- Demotion and promotion withheld are recorded with their letter; the grade is not changed by itself
- Actions show In Force, then Over when their months end
Letters
- Ready templates: Show-Cause Notice, Memo (Disciplinary) and Warning Letter, filled from the case
- The warning letter states the action, how long it stays on record, the fine amount or the suspension dates
- An Entity can use its own show-cause or memo template
Who sees a case
- HR of the Entity sees every case
- The employee sees their case once the notice is issued, never the draft
- The reporting manager sees the case unless it is confidential
- Committee members see the cases of their committee
- A role can be given Disciplinary Cases Hidden: then the person sees only their own cases and their committee's
- Cases appear on the employee's Discipline tab and 360 view for HR only
Links and reports
- Increment policies leave out people with an action in force that blocks increments (Not With a Disciplinary Action in Force: on to start with)
- An improvement plan closed with the outcome discipline has Start the Disciplinary Case, filled in from the plan
- Conduct dashboard: open cases, hearings coming and cases by status
Who uses it
Reporting managerReports an incident about a team member, on the web or in the app.
HR officer or HR adminIssues the notice, goes on without a reply, sets the hearing, decides, closes or drops a case.
Disciplinary committeeHolds the hearing, records the finding and actions, and decides appeals.
EmployeeReads the notice, sends the reply and appeals the decision.
PayrollSees fines as deductions and suspension days as unpaid days in the next run.
Where you use it
- Web: Conduct and Policies > Disciplinary Cases, and Conduct and Policies > Configuration (Misconduct Categories, Disciplinary Actions, Disciplinary Action Ladder, Disciplinary Committees)
- Web: the Entity form for Days to Reply to a Show-Cause and Fines Deducted As
- The SmartMy HRMS app: employees reply and appeal, managers report an incident, HR and the committee move the case. (Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not on an employee web portal: there is none; employees use the web back office with their own limited menus, or the app
What you control
Settings
- Days to Reply to a Show-Cause: 3 to start with, per Entity
- Fines Deducted As: a deduction component per Entity (Other Deductions if not set)
- Appeal Within (days): 7 per category to start with; 0 for no appeal
- Counting period of the ladder: 365 days to start with
- Action In Force months, increment block, fine amount, suspension days and pay, per action
- Confidential and committee hearing, per category
Approvals
- No approval chain: the decision is taken by HR or the case's committee, and actions marked Committee Decision Only need the committee after a hearing
Notifications
- Disciplinary Notice: to the employee when a memo or show-cause is issued, with the letter attached, by email, push and in the app
- Disciplinary Reply Received: to HR and the committee when the employee replies or appeals, by push, email and in the app. The manager is not told, as cases may be confidential
- Disciplinary Decision: to the employee, with the letters attached, by email, push and in the app
- These go out at once; each person can switch off a channel such as email for themselves, and in-app notices always arrive
Questions
Does it follow the show-cause and enquiry steps used in India?
It follows the usual order: show-cause notice, reply, a hearing before a committee, a recorded finding, the decision with letters, and an appeal. The hearing is where you record the domestic enquiry. Your standing orders and legal advice still decide what your process must include.Does it check the fine limit of the Payment of Wages Act?
No. The fine is the amount you enter on the action. It is not checked against the wage limit, and no fines register is kept. Check the amount before you decide.Can we suspend someone pending the enquiry?
Not as a separate step. A suspension is an action given with the decision, without pay, on half pay as subsistence allowance, or on full pay. Suspension before the decision is not built.Can a manager see every case about their team?
A manager sees the team's cases unless the category is confidential. Harassment and fraud cases start as confidential, so only HR and the committee see them. Complaints raised by employees, including POSH, are handled in SmartMy Grievance, not here.What happens if the decision is revoked on appeal?
The actions and their letters are cancelled with the reason, the fine deduction is taken out of payroll, and the case is marked not proven. If the outcome is Actions changed, the case goes back to the hearing to be decided again.Which plan has discipline?
Discipline is in the Scale plan. The payroll link works when payroll is installed, which is from Growth.Related features
ENGAGEMENT, GOALS AND HR TOOLSOne-to-ones, feedback and improvement plansRegular one-to-ones with a shared agenda, private notes and action items that carry over. Praise and suggestions with the reader chosen. Improvement plans with goals, reviews, approval and a recorded outcome.PAYROLLPayroll runs, approval and lockRun payroll per Entity and pay period straight from the attendance record, with joiners, leavers and mid-month revisions worked out. Approvers review it on one screen, salaries can be held and released, and a paid payroll is locked and reopened only with a reason.LOANS, INCREMENTS, BONUSIncrements, revision planner and bonusTry salary revision scenarios against your budget. Run the yearly increment cycle with proposals, approval by HR then top management, letters and arrears. Pay the statutory bonus and your own bonuses through payroll.LINKS AND PLATFORMGrievance and POSH committeeA confidential place for complaints of sexual harassment at work (POSH), misconduct and unfair treatment. Employees report with their name or, where the type allows, anonymously. The committee runs the inquiry through findings, action and appeal. Nobody outside the case reads it, not even HR.PERFORMANCE, CONDUCT, LEARNINGHR policies with acknowledgementPublish the employee handbook, code of conduct, POSH and other policies as numbered versions, to everyone or to chosen departments, staff categories or designations. Each person acknowledges by a deadline, and you see who has not.EXITResignation, exit interviews and clearanceAn employee resigns, or HR records a termination, retirement or other separation. The notice comes from your policy, the manager and HR approve, every department clears the leaver, and the exit interview is on record.
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