300 workers, then it binds
Below that, standing orders do not apply to you and the letters rest on your contract and policy instead.
Source: Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.28(1)
Free PDF pack
Employee Warning Letter and Disciplinary Formats for Indian Employers
Eight formats from a counselling note to a final decision, written around the procedure rather than the wording. The wording is the easy part of a disciplinary matter and the part everyone else gives you.
- Counselling, warnings, show cause, inquiry, decision
- The subsistence allowance nobody mentions
- Twelve checks before anything is issued
Instant download. No card needed.
Attendo presents
Warning Letter & Disciplinary Action Pack
For Indian employers
8
letter formats
ATTENDO PRESENTS
What's inside
Eight formats, and the order they come in
Each sits on its own page with the blanks in square brackets and a note on what the format is for.
Formats 01 to 03
Counselling and warnings
A counselling record that does not read as a punishment, then a first written warning and a final one that says plainly what follows.
Formats 04 to 05
Show cause and charges
A show cause notice written as a question rather than a conclusion, and a charge sheet specific enough to be answered.
Format 06
Suspension
With the subsistence allowance stated in the letter, because it starts on the day the suspension does.
Formats 07 to 08
Inquiry and decision
The notice that makes an inquiry fair, spelling out the right to produce documents, call witnesses, cross examine and be assisted. Then a decision that records findings before a penalty, weighs length of service, and gives a route of appeal.
At the end
Twelve checks
Run before anything is issued. Most of them cost nothing now and a great deal if they are skipped.
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A file that tells the story
Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) keeps the warning, the reply and the outcome against the employee, not in three inboxes.
Why this matters
The wording is the easy part
Disciplinary paperwork is contested more often than any other kind, and it is almost never the phrasing that loses.
Three questions decide what you can do before any letter is written. Whether you employ 300 or more workers, because the standing orders chapter of the Industrial Relations Code only binds at that size. Whether the person is a worker at all, since managerial and administrative roles are outside it, as are supervisors paid over eighteen thousand rupees a month. And whether the act is defined as misconduct anywhere, because the First Schedule requires standing orders to set out the acts that constitute it. You cannot punish somebody for breaching a standard that was never written down.
Then there is the part that costs money. Suspend somebody pending an inquiry and subsistence allowance starts the same day: half their wages for the first ninety days, three quarters after that where the delay is not their fault, and the inquiry ordinarily finished within ninety days. Both of those sit in the standing orders chapter, so as a statutory obligation they follow the same 300 worker threshold. Below that the statute does not compel them, but suspending somebody on no pay generally needs authority in the contract, so those rates are the benchmark whatever your size. A suspension that drifts for six months on nothing turns a defensible case into an expensive one.
The rest is sequence. A show cause notice that has already decided the answer, an inquiry heard by the person who framed the charges, a decision that states a penalty without connecting it to any finding: each of those is the sort of detail that decides a challenge regardless of what the employee actually did.
One deadline worth checking while you are here. Section 30 gave employers six months from the codes commencing to prepare draft standing orders, which ran out around 21 May 2026. If you are at 300 or more workers and have not done it, that is worth raising before disciplining anyone under them. Our labour codes readiness kit covers the rest of what changed, and the exit letter formats pick up where a disciplinary matter ends in a termination.
Preview
Eight letters, in the order they come
Jumping a step is what makes an outcome look decided before it was heard. This is the sequence and what each document is actually for.
- Each row says when to use the letter and the one thing to watch for before it goes out.
- Formats 04 to 08 are the procedural ones, carrying the right to answer, to call and cross examine witnesses, and to appeal. That is where a challenge is won or lost, and where most templates stop.
- Every format names the basis it rests on, so it works whether standing orders bind you or your contract does.
| Letter | Use it when | Watch for | Is it a punishment? | Format | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counselling record | A first, minor lapse | Do not call it a warning | No | 01 | 04 |
| Final written warning | It continues after a warning | Say what happens next | Yes | 03 | 06 |
| Show cause notice | An explanation is needed | Ask, do not conclude | No | 04 | 07 |
| Suspension | They cannot stay at work | Allowance starts that day | No | 06 | 09 |
| All eight | Plus twelve checks | 13 |
Key stats
Three numbers that govern the process
50% then 75%, at 300+
Subsistence allowance during suspension. Half pay for ninety days, three quarters after. Statutory at 300 or more workers; the sensible benchmark below that.
Source: Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.38(3)90 days for the inquiry
An inquiry after suspension should ordinarily finish within ninety days. In the same chapter, so the same 300-worker threshold.
Source: Industrial Relations Code 2020, s.38(1)
Common mistakes
6 Disciplinary Mistakes Indian Employers Make
A show cause notice that decides the answer
Writing you did rather than it is alleged that turns a question into a finding before any explanation is heard. That single wording choice is the easiest thing to point at when the process is challenged.
Suspending without paying
At 300 or more workers the allowance is statutory from the day of suspension: half wages for ninety days, then three quarters. Below that, suspending on no pay still needs authority in the contract, so it is rarely safe either way.
The inquiry heard by the accuser
If the person who framed the charges also decides them, the outcome is very hard to defend whatever the evidence was. Name a different inquiry officer.
A warning with no standard named
Conduct was unsatisfactory, measured against what? Cite the rule, the policy clause or the standing order. Without it the employee can say they never knew the line, and they will be right.
Punishing twice, or without findings
A decision letter that announces a penalty without recording what was found proved, and why that penalty rather than a lighter one, reads as predetermined. Nor can the same act be punished twice, which is easy to do accidentally when a warning is followed by a formal process on the same facts.
Assuming standing orders apply
They bind at 300 or more workers. Below that, citing them gives the employee an argument you did not need to hand over. Rely on the contract and the policy instead, and say so.
Comparison
What a warning letter template gives you
A warning letter template
One paragraph to paste
- The warning, and nothing before or after it
- No show cause, no charges, no inquiry
- Silent on suspension and what it costs
- Assumes standing orders apply to you
- Wording only, no sequence
Free either way
This pack
Eight formats, whole process
- Counselling through to a reasoned decision
- All four procedural documents included
- Subsistence allowance stated in the letter
- Checks the 300-worker threshold first
- A note on each saying what it is for
Get all eight formats
One PDF, eight formats, plus the twelve-point checklist. Short form, instant download.
FAQ
Common questions
Is this warning letter pack really free? +
Yes, completely. No card and no trial. The form asks for your name, work email, phone and city, then the file downloads straight away. The Attendo team may follow up about payroll software, and you are free to say no thanks.
What should an employee warning letter contain? +
Three things, and most templates carry only the first. What the person did, with the date and enough detail to answer. The standard it fell short of, named as a specific rule or policy clause. And what has to change, by when, with what happens if it does not. A warning that says conduct was unsatisfactory without saying against what standard is very hard to rely on later.
Do we have to pay someone who is suspended? +
Almost certainly, and the rate depends on your size. Section 38(3) of the Industrial Relations Code sets subsistence allowance at 50 per cent of wages for the first ninety days and 75 per cent after that, where the delay is not the worker's fault. That section sits in the standing orders chapter, so it binds establishments with 300 or more workers. Below that it is not compelled by the statute, but suspending somebody on no pay generally needs authority in the contract, so those rates are the sensible benchmark either way.
Do standing orders apply to us? +
Only if you employ 300 or more workers, or employed that many on any day in the preceding twelve months. Below that the standing orders chapter does not bind you and your contract and policy govern instead. Either way you can discipline people; the difference is what the letter cites as its authority.
How many warnings before we can dismiss someone? +
There is no fixed number. Three warnings do not automatically produce a dismissal, and one serious act does not need three warnings first. What matters is that the person knew the standard, knew they had fallen short, and had a real opportunity to answer before anything was decided.
A
About Attendo
Attendo, formerly Petpooja Payroll, is payroll and attendance software used by more than 40,000 businesses in India. It keeps the warning, the reply and the outcome against the employee, so the file tells the whole story. See what it does, or browse all the free HR templates.
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Keep the whole record
Warning, reply and outcome in one place, dated, against the right person.
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