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Work-place Pardons: Why, When and How
| Course Number |
LWF601 |
| Objectives |
At the end of this course, you will
describe, as it concerns
work-place administrative pardons, 1. their meaning, 2. the reasons they
are granted, 3. the occasions appropriate for granting them, and 4. the
methods for granting them.
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| Credit Hours and Fee |
3.0 CE Credit Hours with a fee of $24.00 |
| Instructor |
Rudolf Klimes, PhD (Indiana University), MPH
(Johns Hopkins University);
Adjunct Professor at Folsom Lake
College, Folsom CA. |
LearnWell Forgiveness Institute:
www.forgiver.net
Welcome
to this
3-contact-hour Continuing Education course with instant online processing and
certification 24/7. Study the course below, take the 12-question
multiple-choice
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You may retake the test once.
This
course is offered by the LearnWell Forgiveness
Institute. Consider first taking the course
Forgiveness
Therapy.
Outline
of the Course
This course deals
with work-place administrative pardons in educational and other organizations, in
businesses and governmental units as they pertain to 1. their meaning, 2. the
reasons they are granted, 3. the occasions appropriate for granting them, and 4. the
methods for granting them.
1.
Introduction
Definition
of work-place administrative pardon: The exemption of a persons, who has committed a
major documented offense, from the penalties of the offense, by the power of the
administrator.
ERIC_NO: ED198417, The Use of Apologies in Social Predicaments. By Darby, Bruce W.; Schlenker, Barry R., 1980
ABSTRACT: Apologies are admissions of blameworthiness for an undesirable event and allow
actors to try to obtain a pardon from the audience. In an
investigation of the uses and forms of apologies, 120 subjects participated in a
role-play study where they imagined themselves to be central characters who
bumped into a "victim." Apologies were used in a ritualized form,
i.e., saying "Pardon me" and then going about one's
business, when the consequences of the event were minor. As the consequences
became more negative, subjects employed an increasing number of apology
components, i.e., saying they were sorry, expressing remorse, and offering to
help the victim. When high consequences and high responsibility coexisted,
subjects were most likely to employ self-castigation and directly request
forgiveness. Results indicated that as the severity of a predicament increased,
so did the use of non-ritualized apologies and the number of components employed
in apologies.
The purpose of
a work-place administrative pardon is the appropriate rehabilitation of a person, serving
under the administrator, who has committed one or more documented serious
offenses. Not all situations are appropriate for administrative pardons. A
pardon does not mean the giving up of justice, but rather establishes a just and
fair release from the consequences of the offense where possible.
Offenses are all action contrary to established policies,
practices, job assignments or orders. Gross offenses include illegal activities,
insubordination and serious neglect of duties.
 Do
the following pre-test for self-study. Do not submit the answers.
One of the classic cases of administrative pardon is James and his brothers.
Vindication is an expression of innocence.
A written reprimand includes a statement of possible dismissal.
A person seeking pardon needs to show remorse.
2.
Reasons for Granting Administrative Pardons
2.1
Clemency
(the act of forgiveness) : Remission of Punishment
This
is the common pardon granted by the President, governors and other civic
authorities. Clemency
is usually granted when the offender 1) accepts responsibility, 2) shows
remorse, and 3) works toward atonement or restitution.
Clemency
may be granted because the offender has shown evidence of 1) full rehabilitation
or 2) unusual personal circumstances that would create extreme hardships.
Clemency has a long history. It is granted to
people of poverty, friendless condition, youth, old age, and to those who are
sincerely penitent or have engaged in good conduct and were reformed. Clemency
has even been granted to encourage reformation in individuals and good conduct
among other prisoners. Personal characteristics of the individual petitioner all
play in considering in Clemency decision making. Source:
Battered Women's Clemency Project
2.2
Vindication (believe of innocence): Release
from Guilt
This
type of pardon is seldom used. It is usually used when there is evidence that
justice or due process was not followed.
Do you agree with this? "Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes
are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another. Vices
are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness.
Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with
their persons or property. In vices, the very essence of crime - that is, the
design to injure the person or property of another - is wanting. It is a maxim
of the law that there can be no crime without a criminal intent; that is,
without the intent to invade the person or property of another. But no one ever
practices a vice with any such criminal intent. He practices his vice for his
own happiness solely, and not from any malice toward others. Unless this clear
distinction between vices and crimes be made and recognized by the laws, there
can be on earth no such thing as individual right, liberty, or property, and the
corresponding and coequal rights of another man to the control of his own person
and property." Source:
Vindication of Moral Liberty
ERIC_NO: ED310333, Forgiveness as a Psychological Antecedent of Perceived Parental Nurturance.
By Buri, John R; And Others, 1989
ABSTRACT: While forgiveness has long been a crucial concept in the churches' formulations
for the establishment and the preservation of spiritual, social, and emotional
health, consideration of forgiveness by psychology pales in comparison. Research
is needed to identify the psychological factors in mothers and fathers which
serve as antecedents of the nurturance which they provide their children. In
this study, college students (N=111) were asked to assess the nurturance they
had received from their mothers and their fathers using a Likert scale. Scale
items included "I am an important person in my mother's eyes;"
"My mother expresses her warmth and affection for me;" and "My
mother is generally cold and removed when I am with her." The parents of
the student participants responded to a forced-choice forgiveness scale with
items such as "I am a very forgiving person, ready and
willing to forgive anyone who has wronged me." The results suggest a strong
relationship between self-reported forgiveness by parents and the degree of
parental nurturance reported by their adolescent children. Mothers and fathers
who reported the least level of forgiveness were appraised as having rendered
significantly less nurturance than other parents. Source: www.askeric.org
Organizational
Forgiveness: I asked an American the secret of his firm's obviously
successful development policy. He looked me straight in the eye.
"Forgiveness," he said. "We give them big jobs and
big responsibilities. Inevitably they make mistakes, we can't check them
all the time and don't want to. They learn, we forgive, they don't make
the same mistake again."
He was unusual. Too many organizations use their appraisal
schemes and their confidential files to record our errors and our small
disasters. They use them to chastise us with, hoping to inspire us or to
frighten us to do better. It might work once, but in future we will make
sure that we do not venture far enough from the beaten track to make any
mistake. Yet no experiment, no test of new ideas ... means no learning and
no change. As in organizations, so in families. Charles Handy, "The Age of Unreason" p 60
Reasons
for Seeking a Pardon
3.
Occasions for Granting Administrative Pardons
3.1 The need of the
organization for the offender's services
Organizational change
is often disruptive. The initiation of a disciplinary process is usually an
admission on the part of the organization that 1) the organization was not fully
informed when the offender what hired, or 2) the organization or work climate or
circumstances have changed and the offender no longer fits into the
organization, or 3) the offender has changed and the supervisor was not able to
coach or counsel him/her in an effective manner.
One goal of every
organization deals with the effective use of its human and other resources. Thus
the dismissal of an employee often is a loss to the organization. That loss may
at times be eliminated by granting administrative pardons.
3.2 The need of the
offender to deal with the offense realistically
Some organizations
describe themselves as families that greatly value all individuals. In those
cases, corporate forgiveness is as important is individual personal forgiveness.
The building of the individual may be as important as the building of the
organization. Thus reconciliation by all parties may be the aim. A person may be
salvaged by an administrative pardon or destroyed by a dismissal. While that is
not always possible, the possibility of granting administrative pardons should
be explored.
Corporate
Forgiveness: You wouldn't start a long-distance race carrying heavy baggage.
Your organization would also benefit from its members forgiving the past and
letting go of emotional baggage so you can all move forward. Resenting
events in your past does not enhance your future. Depending upon the
research you read, 50% to 70% of organizational change initiatives have failed
and were generally not pleasant. Your organization's next change
initiative is much more likely to succeed if you forgive your leaders and
yourself for previous organizational failures. Organizational change
agents who neglect to heal the past before selling the future need to realize
that they are not being heard. Scott Arbuthnot, "Corporate
Forgiveness - The Undiscovered Change Step"
Case Study:
Joseph
and His Brothers, Genesis 37-50
4. Methods
of Granting
Administrative Pardons
Most administrative pardons are granted informally as
supervisors just overlook problems and put up with difficult situations. But at
times there is a place for formal administrative pardons as outlined below.
The
Due Process for Administrative Supervision, Discipline and Pardons: If
satisfactory resolution is achieved on any level after the appropriate time, the
process concludes and does not proceed.
4.1. Supervisor
communicates with the employee on a regular weekly or daily basis,
coaches him/her when needed, and counsels concerning any problems that may
arise. The supervisor keeps an Incident Dairy as needed.
4.2.
Documentation of problem or offense
by the supervisor, in writing and giving polices or others standards that were
violated, with dates and level of violation. The problems may include details on
unsatisfactory performance and offensive behaviors. That is only for use
and eyes of the supervisor.
4.3.
Verbal Reprimand, recorded by the
supervisor, based on the above records, that includes dates and details of
reprimand. Given by the supervisor to the employee.
4.4.
Letter of Reprimand. As the
above, but in writing. Includes statement of possible dismissal.
Example: SYDNEY, 23 March 2000: Some 60% of managers in
large companies would issue reprimands and warnings to staff caught misusing
e-mail, according to new research into corporate e-mail usage, with 36% saying
dismissal is a common option.
4.5.
Disciplinary Hearing. The
supervisor requests the Department Director to 1) convene a Disciplinary Hearing
2) to appoint two other members of the panel. Then that panel of three follows
due process and meets with the supervisor and the employee under question to
hear the arguments and recommendations on both sides. The panel of three then
meets alone and makes a decision to A) discipline the employee with a
one-to-three-day suspension or reduction in pay, B) demote in rank, C) transfer
to other responsibility, D) grant an administrative pardon, or E) dismiss and
release from employment.
Administrative
pardons may be granted in cases
where the offender 1) accepts full responsibility for the documented offenses or
problems, 2) shows remorse and concern, and 3) works toward atonement or
restitution.
It
is the responsibility of the offender to seek an administrative pardon by 1)
requesting it in writing, 2) and in that letter showing how he/she accepts full
responsibility for the documented offenses or problems, feels remorse and
concern, and will works toward atonement and restitution in specific ways, and
3) making an oral plea for pardon before the Discipline Panel. It is then the
responsibility of the Discipline Panel to accept or reject that request on the
basis of evidence presented in that request.
Dismissal
should be used mainly when 1) the offender shows no concern for his work or
organization or 2) there is documented evidence that he/she cannot perform the
assignment at a minimum standard.
In
cases where the supervisor's recommendation is not accepted by the panel, he/she
may make an alternate recommendation. Disciplinary hearings are granted at the
discretion of the department head, and the department head and supervisor
reserve the right to immediately dismiss an employ for gross offenses without a
disciplinary hearing.
Reconciliation is always the goal when we confront someone about
a wrong done. If your confronting aims at punishing the offender, or if it
is simply a means of castigation and censure, you are confronting with the wrong
aim in mind. The goal of all righteous confrontation is the repair of a
broken relationship and the restoration of the offender. Whenever there is
a broken relationship between Christians, both parties have a responsibility to
seek reconciliation.
If you are the offended party, Luke 17:3 applies: "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents,
forgive him." You are the one who must go to him. If you are
the offender, Matthew 5.23-4 applies: "If you are presenting your offering
at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar and go your way. First be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."
The public aspect of the discipline (outlined in Matthew
18) is a final resort, not the first step. The point of reporting a
person’s offence to the church' is not to get church members to shun the
sinning individual, but precisely the opposite: to encourage them to pursue
that person in love, with the aim of restoration. John MacArthur, "The Freedom and Power of
Forgiveness" pp 132, 137
Library
and References
Reasons
for Seeking a Pardon Pardon
Resource Center
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