Write-ups exist as an important documentation tool for employers to use to catalog an employee’s bad behavior. Write-ups can have a negative impact on a worker’s behavior, unfortunately.
Because of this, some employees may wonder if they legally have to sign a write-up. The answer is yes.
Reading your write-up
Chron takes a look at what employers can do if an employee refuses to sign a write-up. In most cases, it is possible for an employer to fire an employee just for the sole reason of refusing to sign a write-up.
The first step to take is to read the write-up thoroughly. Some write-ups request a signature if the employee agrees with the content of the write-up. In other cases, the write-up simply requires a signature stating that the employee actually read the write-up. This does not indicate that the employee agrees with the content of the write-up. It merely signifies that the employee read it.
Consider a rebuttal
In many cases, it is possible to write a rebuttal in response to a write-up, too. If this happens, the employer must document that you made a rebuttal.
Employers still have a lot of room to fire employees for just about any reason, due to the at-will state of employment in America.
Protection from discrimination
However, employers still cannot discriminate against employees for reasons such as religious affiliation, race, sex and national origin. Anyone who faced write-ups due to prejudice or discriminatory actions and then got fired due to these write-ups may potentially have a wrongful termination case on their hands.
