The Labor Protection Act (“LPA”) provides that when an employee breaches work rules or other lawful disciplinary measure set out by an employer; an employer may warn an employee by serving a warning letter to employee. The employer may terminate employment agreement without need to pay severance pay to the employee if such employee commits same breach within one year (counting from the day when the first warning is served).
Nevertheless, the LPA does not mention minimum details that should be specified in warning letter. In many cases human resource personnel does not prepare/serve warning letter correctly and cause employer to be in an adverse position when files litigation case against employer and request for severance pay (and also other compensations).
In order to make warning letter valid, the employer should keep in mind as follows:
- The letter must be issued by the employer or a person duty authorized by employer;
- Always specified date in the letter;
- The letter must contain details of the breach (what, when, where and how the breach incurred) and relevant clause of work rules which the employee breached (if possible); and
- The letter must instruct the employee not to perform such breach again.
An employer should ask an employee to sign confirmation of letter’s receipt. However, an employer may just read the letter to an employee in present of at least one witness if the employee refuse to sign confirmation of receipt.
