Use and Choice of Discipline. Discipline should be imposed to correct improper employee conduct and to maintain order, morale and workplace safety throughout the workforce. After determining that misconduct occurred and that corrective action is warranted, discipline should be initiated as soon as practicable after the misconduct which prompted it and effected on a progressive and equitable basis as much as possible. These progressive applications of penalties are known as progressive discipline. This concept should be applied in all cases except where penalties are prescribed by law, rule, or regulation; or instances where management deems the misconduct is egregious enough to warrant more serious action up to and including removal. Management officials must exercise reasonable judgment and consider all relevant factors, both mitigating and aggravating (as reflected in the guidance found at Appendix A), in determining the most appropriate corrective action for each situation, including whether alternative discipline should be an option in a given situation. As a guide for considering disciplinary options, the Department’s Guide to Corrective Action is included as Appendix B to this Instruction, as is the Guide to Alternative Discipline. These Guides do not mandate the use of specific penalties in most disciplinary situations. Supervisors/managers retain full authority, except in limited circumstances (i.e., discipline prescribed by statute or the MSPB), to set penalties as they deem appropriate, based on the particular circumstances and specifications of the offense. Consultation and close coordination with the servicing HRO/HRC should ensure that a particular penalty is proportional to the offense and employees who commit similar offenses are treated with relative consistency. 752-1-70 Guidelines
