Read this part first, because it shapes everything else on the page.
This is about writing down what happened accurately. It is not legal advice, it isn't a substitute for your company's disciplinary process, and nothing here tells you what action to take. Your HR team and your company's policy decide that. What follows is about the quality of the record itself.
Something happens on a Tuesday. You handle it, it goes fine, you move on. Four months later it matters — a pattern, a promotion decision, a termination, occasionally a claim — and what you have is a feeling. You remember being frustrated. You don't remember the date, the words, or who else was standing there.
A feeling is not a record. And the version of events you reconstruct four months later will be shaped by how you feel about that person now, which is exactly the thing documentation is supposed to protect against.
Almost every weak note has the same flaw. It records what the supervisor concluded rather than what the supervisor observed.
Spoke with employee about ongoing attitude problem and lack of respect for authority. Employee was defensive and uncooperative. Will continue to monitor.
Every load-bearing word there is an opinion. Attitude problem, lack of respect, defensive, uncooperative — those are your interpretations, and none of them can be verified by anybody who wasn't in your head. If that note is ever read by someone who wasn't there, it tells them about you rather than about the employee.
22 July, approx. 4:15pm. I asked [employee] to redo the mats in bay two. He said "I already did those, do them yourself," and walked to the break room. Two other team members were within hearing distance. I followed up at 4:30pm off the floor and restated that mats are part of the closing routine. He said he understood. Mats were completed by end of shift.
Nothing there is arguable. Date, time, what was asked, what was said in quotes, who could hear it, what you did next, how it ended. Anybody reading it four months from now sees the same event you saw.
Write it the same day. Not because of any rule — because your recall of the actual words is gone by tomorrow, and approximate quotes are worse than no quotes.
The test is simple. Could a stranger read this note and see the event rather than your opinion of the person? If not, rewrite it.
Documentation is a supervisor's job. Deciding what happens next mostly isn't.
Go to HR before you write or act, not after, if any of this is in play: a medical condition or disability, a leave or accommodation request, a safety refusal, a harassment or discrimination allegation, anything involving a protected characteristic, anything union-related, or a pattern that's heading towards termination.
And follow your own company's process for anything formal. A verbal warning, a written warning and a performance plan all mean specific things at your company with specific steps attached. This page doesn't know what those are — your policy does, and your policy governs.
Documentation Assistant takes what you actually remember — messy, out of order, half-sentences typed on a phone in the break room — and turns it into a clean factual record with the conclusions stripped out.
It organises and it removes editorialising. It doesn't decide anything, it doesn't recommend discipline, and it doesn't know your policy.
Free to start. Built by a Navy veteran and eighteen-year frontline operator who spent years not documenting anything at all.
It isn't HR and it isn't a lawyer. It will never tell you to discipline, demote or fire anybody, and it doesn't know your company's policies, your union contract, or your state's employment law. It helps you write down what happened. Everything downstream of that is your decision and your company's process.
Record the date and time, what standard you restated, what you said, what the employee said, anyone present, and what was agreed. Keep it to observable facts and write it the same day. Then follow your company's process — at many companies a verbal warning is a defined step with its own form and requirements, and your policy governs that, not a template.
Write what made you use that word. "Rolled his eyes and walked away when asked to redo the mats" is observable. "Bad attitude" is your conclusion about it, and a conclusion can be disputed by anyone who wasn't there. Describe the behaviour and let the reader draw the conclusion.
A short note is worth it for anything where you restated a standard or agreed on a change, even if the tone was good. That's the note that shows a pattern was addressed early and fairly. It also protects the employee, which is half the point.
That depends entirely on your company's policy and the type of documentation, so ask HR rather than deciding yourself. As a discipline though, write every note as if they will read it. It's a good filter for editorialising, and it keeps you honest about what you actually observed.
Follow your company's policy — records retention and where employee records live are governed by it, and personal copies of employee information kept outside company systems can create real problems. If nobody has told you what the policy is, that's a question for HR before you build a filing habit.
To organise your own observations into clear factual language, yes. What it shouldn't do is invent detail, characterise the person, or decide the outcome. Review every word before it goes anywhere — you're accountable for the record, and it needs to reflect what you actually saw.
Coaching guidance only — not legal or HR advice. Always follow your company's policies. See our Terms and Privacy Policy.