Discipline and General Conduct Policy

Greenville University requires all employees to follow policies, procedures, and rules established by the organization, act in a professional manner at all times, and perform their assigned duties in a timely, effective, and competent manner.

When employees perform at an unsatisfactory level, violate an organizational policy, or engage in misconduct, Greenville University will provide employees with reasonable opportunities to correct deficiencies, where possible. However, with employees who are at-will, Greenville University may decide to terminate an employee at will, at any time, with or without cause and without following any particular system of discipline or warning.

Generally, Greenville University management will try to use corrective action that is less severe than terminating an employee. For example, management may use oral counseling, written counseling, suspension with or without pay, probation, or a combination thereof when disciplining an employee.

Sometimes an incident involving an employee may require an investigation. In that instance, the employee may be placed on an investigatory leave to give GU leadership an opportunity to review the circumstances related to a potential disciplinary matter. Doing a complete investigation can help leadership to render an appropriate decision on how to handle the matter fairly. 

When an employee is on investigatory leave, the leave is typically paid and will not negatively affect an employee’s personnel file until the results and decisions from the investigation are officially made. The final results of the investigation may lead to documentation and other disciplinary action, if warranted, up to and including termination.

Each situation that may require potential discipline will be handled on an individual basis. It will take into consideration the specific facts of the case and the severity of the conduct in question. Furthermore, whenever a discipline issue is formally documented, employees will typically be asked to acknowledge that the employee was given a copy of the document by signing the original. The employee’s signature will acknowledge receipt of the document but will not signify the employee’s agreement with the contents of the document.