Disciplinary Action Against Bank Staff

     Disciplinary Proceedings – Important Points to be considered

S No	Question	Answer
		Yes	No	Can’t say
A	Investigation
1	Was the investigation absolutely fair, objective and impartial, free from any bias and prejudice?
2	Was the investigation complete in respects, analysing the issue from all perspectives?
3	Were some people deliberately left out from the purview of the probe?
4	Whether all the specific conditions prevailing ‘at the time of occurrence of the event under scrutiny’ were studied in depth by the investigating official, before reaching his/her conclusion?
5	Whether the investigating Officer and the charge-sheeted official were known to each other, before the alleged irregularity/offence came to light?
B	Framing of Charges
1	Has the accountability at various levels and places been taken into cognizance, before framing the charges against the charge-sheeted official?
2	Are the charges levelled related to the role assigned to the charge-sheeted official by the management?
3	Does any of the charges levelled pertain to the period during which the alleged irregularity took place?
4	Was the charge-sheeted official physically present at the scene of occurrence of the offence?
5	Do the charges levelled entirely depend on the investigation report?
6	Did the Disciplinary Authority call for additional inputs from various sources/departments, to ascertain the facts himself, before framing the charges?
7	Is there abnormal delay, say more than 5 years, for framing of charges, after the date of the alleged misconduct, unless the said misconduct is of criminal nature?
8	Was the charge-sheeted official having total control over all the dimensions of the case?
9	Where some more people – insiders or outsiders – were involved, has action been taken against all of them simultaneously?
C	Nature of Allegations and Charges
1	Do any of the charges pertain to the charge-sheeted official hatching a conspiracy to cause deliberate loss to the bank?
2	Do any of the charges point to the charge-sheeted official receiving some favours or monetary benefits from the real culprits on ‘quid pro quo’ basis?
3	Do any of the charges point to the collusion, connivance and direct complicity of the charge-sheeted official with the real culprits/beneficiaries?
4	Do any of the allegations point to the charge-sheeted official creating falsified documentary proof to swindle bank’s money?
5	Do any of the allegations point to submission of false, fictitious and inflated monetary claims by the charge-sheeted official, to unduly enrich himself/herself?
6	Did the charge-sheeted official indulge in misrepresentation of facts and suppression of material information?
7	Has the action/negligence of the charge-sheeted official caused loss or injury to any customer?
8	Did the charge sheeted official change any existing rules and procedures stipulated by the bank?
9	Did the charge sheeted official fail to take necessary precautions in the course of discharging of duties?
10	Did the charge sheeted official fail to report any unusual occurrence to higher authorities within a reasonable time?
11	Did the charge sheeted official interfere in the functioning of any other staff?
12	Did the charge sheeted official prevent any other staff from discharging their assigned duties?

       Disciplinary Proceedings – Important Points to be considered

S No	Question	Answer
		Yes	No	Can’t say
D	Conducting of the Disciplinary Proceedings
1	Were ample opportunities given to the charge-sheeted official to reasonably and adequately defend himself/herself?
2	Was the charge-sheeted official provided with all information and documents that he deemed necessary and wanted, to defend himself/herself?
3	Was the charge-sheeted official provided access to important files, records and registers relevant to the case?
4	Were the principles of natural justice followed?
5	Did the charge-sheeted official offer full co-operation for the timely completion of the disciplinary proceedings?
6	Did the charge-sheeted official exert any undue influence on the Enquiry Officer or the Disciplinary Authority with a view to change the course of the proceedings?
7	Was the charge-sheeted official threatened by anybody and prevented from telling the whole truth?
E	Ultimate findings and Conclusions reached
1	Has the Disciplinary Authority carefully gone through each and every ‘Defence Exhibit’ before he/she moved on to the next step?
2	Has the Disciplinary Authority taken into account the detailed deposition made by the Defence Witness/es, before reaching any conclusion?
3	Did the Disciplinary Authority grant personal hearing to the charge-sheeted official, when asked for?
4	Does the probe point to any general weaknesses and deficiencies in the system itself?
5	Is the particular lapse/violation of bank’s guidelines continuing in many other branches even now?
F	Others
1	Was any of the persons who acted as Investigating Officer, Presenting Officer, Enquiry Officer and Disciplinary Authority influenced by the factors that are extraneous to the case?
2	Was a broad-based committee formed to consider all the relevant facts and materials, before deciding the nature and extent of penalty?
3	Does the final award contain provisions for appeal, especially when some penalty is sought to be imposed on the charge-sheeted official?
4	Is there any larger legal issue involved in this case?
5	Has the bank taken immediate steps to prevent such lapses/irregularities/aberrations/malpractices in future?

Note:  The answer ‘Can’t say’ includes ‘Not Applicable’ too, wherever found more appropriate.

Key Guidelines to be followed for awarding penalty

1. One shall not be punished for certain things and events which were never under one’s control.
2. Where the charges could not be convincingly proved/established, ‘benefit of doubt’ is to be given to the accused and he/she must be acquitted.
3. Before deciding upon the penalty, the positive contributions made by the charge-sheeted official in the past must be placed on record.
4. Where only a part of the charge is proved, major penalty shall not be awarded.
5. Where only a few minor allegations/charges could be proved, only minor penalty is to be imposed.
6. Where there is no monetary loss, some penalty which is symbolic in nature like ‘caution’, ‘warning’ or ‘censure’ may be imposed.
7. Except in the case of financial impropriety of the charge-sheeted employee, where the loss has been recovered in full or as per the terms of OTS sanctioned, the penalty shall be a minor one.
8. The record/s of proceedings of the decision making committee must be given to the charge-sheeted employee, without his/her asking for them.
9. Genuine ‘Errors of commercial judgement’ shall not be treated on the same footing with a brazen irregularity, fraud or scam of alarming magnitude.
10. Procedural lapses shall not be dealt with sternly and penalty if any must be a token one and the period of rigour shall not extend beyond 1 Year.

Types of Penalties that can be imposed on an erring bank employee

S No	Nature of Penalty imposed	Impact on
		Earning of further increments	Future promotions	Payment of Gratuity	Payment of pension
A	Acquittal
1	Total Acquittal, if found ‘not guilty’	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
2	Letting off with a note of ‘Caution’, if found ‘careless’	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
3	Letting off with a plain ‘Warning’, if found ‘negligent’ while following due diligence	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
B	Token / Symbolic Penalty
4	Levy of a token fine of Rs.1,000 for being ‘careless’	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
5	Recovery of half day wages for just 1 day, (a token punishment) as a mark of caution	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
6	Recovery of half-day wages for 1 day each, in the next 3 calendar months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
7	Recovery of half-day wages for 1 day each, in the next 6 calendar months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
8	Recovery of half-day wages for 1 day each, in the next 11 calendar months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
C	Minor Penalty
9	Stopping the ‘future increment’ for a month (without adverse impact on sanction of further increments)	Increment due in the next 1 month will be sanctioned afterwards	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
10	Stopping the ‘future increment’ for the next 3 months (without adverse impact on sanction of further increments)	Increment due in the next 3 months will be sanctioned afterwards	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
11	Stopping the ‘future increment’ for the next 6 months (without adverse impact on sanction of further increments)	Increment due in the next 6 months will be sanctioned afterwards	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
12	Stopping the ‘future increment’ for the next 1 year (without adverse impact on sanction of further increments)	Increment due in the next 1 year will be sanctioned afterwards	No adverse impact	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
13	Stopping the future promotion for the next 6 months or until the next promotion process whichever is earlier	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 6 months or until the next promotion process whichever is earlier	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
14	Stopping the future promotion for the next 12 months or until the next promotion process whichever is earlier	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 12 months or until the next promotion process whichever is earlier	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
S No	Nature of Penalty imposed	Impact on
		Earning of further increments	Future promotions	Payment of Gratuity	Payment of pension
C	Minor Penalty (continued)
15	Reduction in the present basic pay by one stage for 2 years, without cumulative effect	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 12 months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
16	Reduction in the present basic pay by one stage for 3 years, without cumulative effect	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 24 months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
17	Reduction in the present basic pay by 2 stages for 2 years, without cumulative effect	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 12 months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
18	Reduction in the present basic pay by 2 stages for 3 years, without cumulative effect	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 24 months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
19	Reduction in the present basic pay by 3 stages for 3 years, without cumulative effect	No adverse impact	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 24 months	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
D	Major Penalty
20	Reduction in the present basic pay by 2 stages for 2 years, with cumulative effect	After the expiry of rigour period of 2 years, sanction of future increments will be postponed by 2 years.	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 2 years	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
21	Reduction in the present basic pay by 2 stages for 3 years, with cumulative effect	After the expiry of rigour period of 3 years, sanction of future increments will be postponed by 2 years,	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 3 years	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
22	Reduction in the present basic pay by 3 stages for 3 years, with cumulative effect	After the expiry of rigour period of 3 years, sanction of future increments will be postponed by 3 years.	Will not be considered for promotion during the next 3 years	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
E	Very Drastic Penalty
23	Compulsory Retirement from bank’s service without any adverse impact on future employment	The question of sanction of future increments doesn’t arise	The question of further promotion doesn’t arise	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
24	Compulsory Retirement from bank’s service that will have an adverse impact on future employment	The question of sanction of future increments doesn’t arise	The question of further promotion doesn’t arise	No adverse impact	No adverse impact
25	Dismissal from bank’s service and Recovery of actual losses from the employee	The question of sanction of future increments doesn’t arise	The question of further promotion doesn’t arise	Gratuity will be forfeited and actual losses if any will be recovered	Losses if any may be recovered from the pension payable

Date: 30-06-2013                                                                                                                                                V Subramanian

- V Subramanian