Discipline in AstraHR

AstraHR's Discipline module manages employee misconduct and grievances end to end — from the first quiet word, through formal cases with queries, hearings and sanctions, to appeals, closure and record expiry.

It is not a logbook. It is a procedure-enforcing system: a sanction physically cannot be recorded until the steps that make it defensible are complete, and everything that happens lands on an append-only audit trail.

Why it works this way

Under Ghana's Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), when a dismissal is challenged at the National Labour Commission (NLC), the employer must prove two things:

1. the ground was fair (what the employee did), and
2. the procedure was fair (how the employer handled it).

Most SMEs lose on the second one — not because the employee was innocent, but because nobody can prove a query was served, a hearing was offered, or the employee was allowed to bring a colleague. The module exists to make that proof automatic: if the case reached a sanction, the procedure happened, and the Case Pack proves it in one click.

The module also respects the Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843): discipline data defaults to the least visibility, restricted cases suppress notifications, and retention is policy-driven.

The seven ground rules

These are built into the system — no configuration can switch them off:

1. The product is a defensible record. Every action is written down with actor and timestamp.
2. Procedure-enforcing, not outcome-logging. Gates are enforced by the server, not just the screens.
3. The right to be heard is never bypassable. Every path to a sanction passes through a query and the chance to respond.
4. Conduct is not capability. Poor performance belongs in Appraisals, not here.
5. Nothing is ever deleted. There is no delete button on a case, allegation, evidence item, finding, sanction, appeal or audit entry — anywhere.
6. Automation recommends; humans decide. No job opens a live case or applies a sanction on its own.
7. Confidentiality by default. New cases default to Restricted visibility.

The module at a glance

Where things live

What	Where
HR / manager screens	HR → Discipline in the sidebar: Dashboard, Report Incident, Cases, Counselling Notes, Setup
Employee's side	Employee portal → Discipline: their cases, responses, acknowledgements, appeals, counselling comments, grievances
Configuration	HR → Discipline → Setup (one tabbed workspace)

Reading order

New to the module? Read in this order:

1. Key Concepts — the vocabulary and the case lifecycle
2. Setup & Configuration — what to review before the first case
3. Tutorial: Running a Minor Case — the everyday flow
4. Tutorial: Gross Misconduct — investigation, suspension, hearing
5. Appeals · Counselling Notes · Grievances
6. The Employee's Side — what your staff see and do
7. Automation & Jobs — auto-triggers, deadlines, notifications
8. Dashboard & Case Pack — oversight and the NLC bundle
9. FAQ & Data Rules — everything else, including what the system refuses to do