The importance of having a policy to deal with employee insubordination
Insubordination occurs when an employee wilfully refuses or disregards a supervisor’s legitimate directive. It can also include abusive language toward supervisors or others in the workplace. However, not every disagreement or refusal is insubordination. For example, an employee may have a valid reason for refusing a directive that is illegal, unsafe, unclear, or outside the scope of proper management authority.
Employers should have a clear policy for handling insubordination. Although a policy is not required to discipline or terminate an employee, it helps ensure issues are handled consistently and appropriately.
A clear policy also reinforces workplace expectations: employees need to understand that legitimate directions must be followed and that insubordination is unacceptable.
Following a written policy can also help if an employee files a complaint with a state or federal agency or brings a lawsuit. In those situations, employers should be prepared to show that they acted reasonably and consistently.
Responses to insubordination may range from counseling or other disciplinary action to termination, depending on the circumstances.
Because disciplinary decisions can have legal consequences, employers should consider consulting an attorney or qualified HR professional when developing a policy or deciding how to respond.
Key considerations before disciplining an employee for insubordination
If you are accused of discriminatory conduct because of your treatment of an allegedly insubordinate employee, or if you want to challenge payment of unemployment benefits to a worker fired for insubordination, you will generally have to show that:
- a direct order was issued to an employee
- the employee received and understood the order
- the employee refused to obey the order through an explicit statement of refusal or through non-performance
In cases of abusive language, consider the context in which the incident occurred. An employee is more likely to be found to have engaged in insubordination if the abusive language:
- was not provoked by the supervisor
- was spoken in the presence of other employees or customers
- was not an example of shop talk in the workplace
However every case is different and if you are accused of discriminatory conduct your lawyer can advise you as to what needs to be shown.
What should employers do before disciplining an employee for insubordination?
If you encounter a situation where you think an employee was insubordinate because he or she disregarded or disobeyed a legitimate order or directive, before you discipline the employee, ask yourself the following questions to make sure that discipline is the appropriate action to take:
- Assess how the order was issued. The best way to communicate an order is a clearly written memo or order that explains who should do what, when it should be done, where they should do it, and how they should do it. If orders are being communicated orally, make sure the employee understands what you want.
- Was the directive issued orally?
- Was it issued face-to-face?
- Was the directive a written memorandum?
- Who gave the order?
- Assess the employee's understanding of the order.
- Was the directive clear?
- Was the employee aware of the objectives of and duties imposed by the directive?
- Did the employee directly refuse the order or circumvent it?
- Was the refusal intentional?
- What would have constituted reasonable compliance with the order?
- Could other workplace factors have influenced the employee's actions? It could be that, due to some factors, the employee did not willfully intend to disobey.
- Was the behavior common in the workplace?
- Was the conduct in any way provoked by a supervisor or coworker?
- Did the employee exhibit a pattern of insubordinate conduct?
- Has the employee been told what behavior is unacceptable?
- Were employees informed of policy?
- Have you consistently enforced the policy?
- Was the order a proper exercise of management authority?
- Assess the appropriateness of the order. Maybe the employee had a good reason for not obeying the order. The law protects employees who are fired or disciplined for not obeying orders that are in violation of the law.
- Was the employee's refusal to obey based upon legal rights?
- Did the order require the employee to perform unsafe or illegal duties?
- Were the rules or directives related to the efficient and safe operation of the business?
- Assess the impact of the insubordinate conduct.
- Did it disrupt workflow or harm the business?
- Did it pose a safety hazard to the employee or coworkers?
- Did it affect the morale of other employees?
- Was it unacceptable conduct because of the employee's skills or professional level?
- Could the conduct be corrected easily?
If, after considering all of these issues, you conclude the employee's actions were insubordinate, how should you handle the situation?
How should employers respond to employee insubordination?
Your knee-jerk reaction to an insubordinate employee may be to lose your temper, to become abusive in return, or to terminate the employee immediately. While it's hard to control your emotions during a stressful situation like this, you must.
Termination may, in fact, be the appropriate response to an insubordinate employee, but don't fire the employee on the spot. If termination is appropriate, it will still be clearly appropriate after you've cooled off.
Being abusive in return is never appropriate.
Although immediate termination may be required in the most serious situations, counseling or a progressive step discipline program can often be the appropriate vehicle for disciplining an insubordinate employee.
What should an employee insubordination policy include?
Your discipline policy should give you room to maneuver, so you can consider the following:
- Does an employee's past record indicate an insubordinate attitude? If not, perhaps a warning should be used the first time. If the employee has a history of this kind of behavior, stricter sanctions can be considered.
- Is the discipline appropriate and related to the severity of the conduct? If the conduct is serious, a light or token punishment will not deter the employee (or other employees) from exhibiting this type of behavior.
On the other hand, if an employee is punished severely for a minor infraction, the purpose of the discipline could backfire and make the employee's attitude and morale even worse.
While some kinds of policies allow for many variations, insubordination policies can also be shorter, to the point, and more generic. Keeping an insubordination policy generic allows it to have wider applicability for a variety of workplace issues that may arise.
This article provides general information. Employers may be advised to consult with an employment lawyer and HR professionals to ensure their policy for dealing with insubordination complies with federal, state, and local laws and is right for their particular business.