Any employee at least once in his life finds himself in a situation of being late for work, impossibility of entering the service or performing official duties qualitatively and on time. Any of these violations can occur for reasons both respectful and disrespectful. What their boss considers them to be depends on how the guilty employee will be able to explain what happened.
If you have to write an explanatory note on non-performance of duties
Regarding the situation that has arisen, he will have to speak in writing, namely, to draw up a document called an explanatory note. This paper is explanatory or exculpatory.
It should be understood that the explanatory note to the head is one of the official documents and its execution is made according to certain rules. Its content is information that serves as an explanation of the reasons for the misconduct or violation. The purpose is to provide the employee with the opportunity to demonstrate his view of the problem (situation) that has arisen, to state the essence of the matter in his own words and to justify (if possible) in the eyes of the management.
In the correct execution of the explanatory note on the non-fulfillment of official duties, as well as any official document, the one who draws it up, namely the employee who committed the violation, is interested. The decision of the management to impose a penalty depends on how successful and competent the presentation of the situation in its presentation will be.
How to do it?
It is very important to try to convey to the authorities the reasons for what happened. After all, sometimes the employee’s guilt in a misunderstanding is not or is it minimal. If, having considered all the circumstances of the case, the management still finds the subordinate guilty, disciplinary measures can be applied to him - up to and including dismissal for failure to perform official duties. Therefore, the attitude to the design of the note should be serious.
In certain cases provided for by law, its compilation is mandatory. In others, the employee is invited to explain the situation on his own initiative. Often, one may hear the question: is the perpetrator obliged to provide an explanatory note?
You should be aware that this action relates to his rights, and not to duties. What does it mean? The fact is that the concept of an explanatory note as such is not in the legislation. The wording of the current Labor Code of the Russian Federation reads about “requesting written explanations”. The employee is obliged to provide them in cases of violations of labor discipline, failure to fulfill his own duties or committing an unlawful act. However, the oral form of explanation is not accepted.
About the essence of the document
An explanatory note is issued not only in the case of disciplinary violations, but also in other situations. Among the latter can be attributed any action in which you want to justify. For example - causing damage to property.
In this regard, it is important to understand the essence of the mentioned document. It consists in a written statement of the incident. The explanatory note does not contain any statements or requests to understand the situation of the dispute. This is the main difference between it and official documents of a different type, for example, a statement or a report on non-performance of official duties.
Thus, the offender himself is interested in writing and providing it to his superiors, since this document gives him a chance to convey his own point of view to the situation in writing. At the same time, no one has the right to force him to write such a note. If pressed, he may file a complaint with the supervisory authority.
Let's talk about the legal framework
Article 193 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation indicates that an explanatory note must be written by an employee before disciplinary measures can be applied to him (an order was issued on non-performance of official duties). He is given two days to compile and submit it. In case of failure to perform the specified action, an appropriate act may be formed.
It is important to understand that in the absence of official explanations of the responsibility for the violation, it will still not be possible to avoid. If an employee does not use his legal right to justify himself, this remains his personal problem.
In addition, this document is referred to in article 247 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It enshrines the provision according to which, in the event of damage to clarify the cause of the incident, the requirement for all involved to provide written explanations is legal and mandatory. In case of refusal to write a document or transfer to the employer, an appropriate act is drawn up. But the official form of this document (explanatory note) has not been approved at the legislative level.
Explanatory Note Form
This paper refers to one of the specific forms of business documents. Accordingly, all the rules for the execution of such acts when writing it must be observed. You should write on an A4 sheet. The heading of the document shows the position of the recipient (most often it is the head of the company) along with the data of the employee himself, his position, structural unit. Then, without fail, is the name of the document and the text itself.
There is no approved form for the explanatory note. That is, the law does not contain uniform requirements for its completion by law. But we nevertheless cite for our readers one example of explanatory notes as a general guideline.
The writing style used by the employee must be business-like. When writing, it is important to observe the stylistic and grammatical rules of the language. Technical terms and professional slang are allowed, but emotionally expressive vocabulary should not be used. This document should not contain any ambiguity, so the text must be written in a logical and clearly verified style. The presentation of what happened always happens in the first person, in the correct language, correctly, without stylistic and spelling errors.
What is important to mention
All circumstances that caused the misconduct or offense must be described in detail. Behavior is independently evaluated in terms of legitimacy. Be sure to indicate all material circumstances that contribute to the commission of misconduct.
It is necessary to emphasize the confession or non-recognition of guilt, as well as record the opinion of the writer regarding the consequences of the discussed misconduct and his attitude to the forthcoming prosecution. Should you evaluate your actions yourself in the explanatory text? If guilt is recognized by the employee, this must be indicated with a subsequent clarification of the inadmissibility of future such violations.
Most often carry out an explanatory note by hand. Alternatively, you can type it on a computer, but from a psychological point of view, such a document will cause less confidence in the employer in connection with some of its stereotyped. The boss may suspect that the text that is appropriate in meaning is simply downloaded (with minimal changes) from the Internet, where there are many examples of explanatory notes for all occasions.
Who and when may require an explanatory
To demand a report of an employee in case of non-fulfillment of his own labor functions is entitled to those who are directly responsible for the result of the implementation of this production task. But the right to demand the writing of an explanatory note on non-performance of official duties belongs only to the head of the enterprise or to the immediate boss.
It has already been mentioned above that explanatory notes are mandatory written in cases of disciplinary misconduct or material damage to the company. It should now be clarified that other situations in which the employer has the right to demand written explanations can be fixed by local acts of a particular enterprise. In this case, an explanation can be obtained on the basis of the so-called requirement of the employer.
The document called the requirement is executed on a special form and is subject to registration in a separate journal, like any outgoing correspondence. It is provided to the employee under a signature indicating the date of transfer. This number allows you to navigate in compliance with the law in compiling explanatory.
In the event of possible litigation, a duly executed claim will serve as evidence that the employer conducted an investigation into the causes of the incident and made a decision on the recovery measures in compliance with all legal norms. If the employee not only refuses to write an explanatory note, but also receives a demand on his hands, it is necessary to draw up an act on this.
Psychological nuances
It should be borne in mind that the failure to complete the task may be due to completely different circumstances. Sometimes this happens regardless of employee behavior. If he does not feel any guilt, this must be convincingly substantiated, accompanied by serious evidence.
It is highly discouraged to try to shift the blame or responsibility to other persons, in particular, to the same leader, when writing an explanatory note on non-performance of official duties. It is unlikely that this line of behavior will find understanding among superiors.
For example, you made a mistake by inattention - due to poor health. You can write that the cause of the misconduct was overwork, but it should not be emphasized that the initial factor was the long absence of leave due to the fault of the same boss.
What else should be in the text
The standard explanatory ending is the recognition of awareness of the consequences of the act and the promise to make every possible effort to rectify the situation, as well as assurance of the inadmissibility of similar errors in the future.
None of the employees are insured against work misses - from beginners to experienced workers. Errors are the consequences of a variety of reasons, which can be both objective and subjective. Each of them should be described in detail in the explanatory text, all the circumstances and premises of what happened are described in sufficient detail.
It is not worth blaming colleagues for what happened, but in the absence of guilt, inventing it artificially is also not recommended. The circumstances set forth in the document must correspond to the real ones.
Other reasons for writing explanatory notes
If an explanatory note is written for such a type of misconduct as being late, then it should be understood that this event is related to disciplinary violations and the reasons for its commission must be explained. If the circumstances of the case are recognized by the management as respectful, punishment can be avoided. Otherwise, the latecomer will receive disciplinary action.
Explanatory in this case refers to personnel documents. It should be transferred directly to the head or to the personnel department (personnel department). If we are talking about truancy, by which law is meant the absence of an entire shift or work in a workplace for 4 hours in a day (shift), then we can assume the termination of the labor agreement.
That is why in this case, the employee is especially interested in providing an acceptable explanation of his actions. The following reasons confirmed by documents can be recognized as valid: illness of the employee or his relatives, accident, death of one of the family members, accident or natural disaster. Moreover, any of these reasons should be documented.
Is it possible not to write a note and what is the danger?
As already mentioned, this action is not required. In writing it, the employee himself is primarily interested in order to positively resolve the situation. Articles 193 and 246 of the Labor Code suggest a refusal to provide an explanatory note with a special act. But the chances of avoiding punishment are naturally greatly reduced. Refusal does not bear other specific consequences.
By depriving yourself of the opportunity to express a personal opinion and provide your vision of the situation, most often you will not achieve mitigation of disciplinary action (for example, canceling a reprimand for failure to perform official duties). Indeed, such a refusal will seem to any leader as an unwillingness to admit his own guilt or mistake, especially in those cases when it is obvious.