GMP enforcement and discipline

Hi all,

we recently updated our GMPs and we are also under new management who finally takes this stuff very seriously. We are trying to establish a standard protocol on how to enforce these changes and also to discipline those who do not follow the rules. I was curious what your procedures are. 

So far for jewelry we do a one day suspension after the first infraction, a longer suspension on the second, and termination on the third. But some of our other GMPs are not necessarily that critical. 

One proposal was to coach initially, then two write-ups, then a suspension, and termination at the 5th but this seems almost too lenient. Of course it depends on the GMP being violated. 

What are your thoughts on this? What are your procedures that you found effective?

Thank you!

Warning/Coaching>written warning>remainder of day suspension>multi-day suspension>termination.

Generally follow the same dicipline flow for all problems, jumping ahead depending on severity.

Hi ebb30,

I think the first challenge is to understand how much your staff understand the issues. They need to know not just the requirements, but the reasons for them, the implications for the company for failure to adhere to them and the consequences if it all goes wrong and you have to recall product. Once they are on-board with that, then you should explain the sanctions that will be applied.

I don't think that a 1 day suspension is appropriate for any first offence. I'm more familiar with a warning, a written notification and then termination. You will need to be consistent and vigilant. People must not be allowed to get away with ignoring the rules, but you will also need to get everyone on your side so the culture is adhering to the regulations, rather than getting away with it until noticed.

You may even want to suspend the disciplinary actions for the first month or so while everyone gets used to the new regime.

Thank you for the input. It looks like we will be going with coaching through a grace period (documented but verbal) much to what BrummyJim suggested, verbal, written, suspension, last chance agreement (no infractions for 1-2 year period or termination), termination. Every 4 months they can drop down a level, or after one year maybe the slate is wiped clean. Still working through this part. 

The one day suspension came from our workforce being constantly reminded of no jewelry allowed, but they still wear tongue rings thinking no one will see them. We used to simply write them up and go through the steps until a customer complaint of an earring found led us to really crack down (though if someone was a new hire I would still give them a verbal warning first and make them take the jewelry off, but inform them that the next time is suspension). We have since installed much better metal detection on the lines so I will revisit this. We may be able to skip to written warning first and then a suspension because the risk is now much lower (almost non existent) of a metal item making it out to a customer. 

Thank you for your input, it is very useful to see what everyone else in the industry does also. Sounds like the 5th offence being the termination step is what others do as well. 

Hi ebb,

I'm curious, are there no legal restrictions in USA on yr power to make such Regulations ?

i suppose it may also relate to what yr business actually is ?