In the presence of a disciplinary or labor offense, the employer has the right to impose disciplinary punishment on the employee, but at the same time, he is obliged to request a written explanation of the situation from the violator. Based on the explanatory note drawn up by the employee, the employer can not only make a decision on punishing the employee, but also assess the severity of his misconduct.

Why is an explanatory note needed?

In the workflow, a lot of various documents are distinguished, among them is an explanatory note. It is used to explain the causes of certain situations, actions or facts. Paper is considered by law as a form of employee self-defense. And it is on the correctness of its compilation, the logic of the presentation of the facts that the subsequent decision of the leadership depends.

Often, an explanatory note is required in the following situations:

• various emergency situations affecting production;
• various violations of labor discipline;
• violation of production discipline;
• various disciplinary offenses;
• misdemeanors.

In particular, most explanatory notes are drawn up due to being late for work or absenteeism, failure to fulfill official obligations. Here is a sample letter of absence from work:

Design rules

Despite the fact that there is still no common unified form for compiling an explanatory note, a number of requirements are put forward for it by the rules of document management:

1. The document is drawn up on a sheet of A4 paper in both handwritten and printed versions.
2. When writing, a strictly business style of presentation of information is used. It is not allowed to use emotionally colored vocabulary when writing a document.
3. Mandatory absence of obscene and colloquial vocabulary.
4. Brief presentation of information. It is not necessary to write a poem on ten pages, rather briefly and to the point state the main points.
5. The document is always written in the first person.
6. In the presentation of the event, logic, a clear chronology, should be visible.
7. There are no final conclusions in the test of the explanatory note. That is, you should not write at the end of the document: "Based on the facts, I consider myself innocent of being late for work."

A correctly drawn up note, which indicates not only the facts that served as its writing, but also weighty arguments in favor of the employee, can mitigate the misconduct, therefore, help, if not to avoid punishment, then at least partially reduce the amount of the fine.

Required details

In the explanatory note, like any other document, a number of details must be indicated. These include:

• name of the organization, structural unit;
• addressee, often the head of the organization;
• the addresser, that is, the direct offender;
• name of the document type;
• registration number. Specified in the personnel department during registration;
• document text;
• date of writing;
• compiler's signature.

When taking into account all the listed details, after writing, a document will be obtained according to the following model:

Text composition

The text of the explanatory note consists of two parts:

1. The factual part, which sets out the facts that have become the reason for writing the document. For example: “June 23, 2016, I didn’t show up for work.”
2. Explanatory, which gives the reasons due to which the situation arose.

Features of dating

The note is dated by the date of its compilation, and not the commission of the offense itself, which is very important. This is due to the fact that within a month after the discovery of the misconduct, not counting the time that the employee was on vacation (on sick leave), it can be applied to him. A correct date of compilation serves as an indication of the date from which the report is kept.

The procedure for compiling a note

When writing any explanatory note, you can follow this order:

1. The position and name of the person to whom you are submitting an explanatory note are indicated in the upper right corner.
2. Under the addressee, the position and name of the compiler are indicated.
3. Below is the name of the document.
4. The main part sets out the facts that led to the situation.
5. At the end of the note is the date of the document and a personal signature.

Attachments to the note

Often appendices are attached to the text of the explanatory note. These can be various kinds of certificates (for example, a certificate issued by a paramedic), acts (for example, an act drawn up by an emergency service when repairing a water or gas pipeline), a relevant article from the media confirming the fact of an accident, damage to a highway, etc. .

The presence of these papers significantly affects the text of the explanatory note, confirming the facts set forth in it.

Examples of an explanatory note

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with typical examples of an explanatory note.

A note on dereliction of duty:

A note about being late for work:

An explanatory note is drawn up by an employee in the event of a disciplinary or labor violation and serves to protect the employee from the imposition of penalties or their mitigation. Compiled by the employee at the request of the employer on an A4 sheet by hand or in computer form.

in the methodology of science) is a cognitive procedure aimed at enriching and deepening knowledge about the phenomena of the real world by including these phenomena in the structure of certain connections, relationships and dependencies, which makes it possible to reveal the essential features of this phenomenon. In the simplest case, separate empirically fixed facts are the subject of explanation. In this case, the explanation is preceded by their description. But in principle, the subject of explanation can be any kind of reality in any of its manifestations and at any level of its expression in the system of scientific knowledge. So, let's say, the laws of science, empirical and theoretical, can be explained, the content of theories of a lesser degree of generality can find its explanation in theories of a more general level, etc. In the structure of explanation as a cognitive procedure, the following elements can be distinguished: 1) initial knowledge about the phenomenon being explained ( so-called explanandum); 2) knowledge used as a condition and means of explanation, allowing to consider the phenomenon being explained in the context of a certain system or structure (the so-called foundations of explanation, or, explanans); 3) cognitive actions that allow applying the knowledge that serves as the basis of explanation to the phenomenon being explained. As the basis for explanation, knowledge of various types and levels of development can be used, which makes it possible to distinguish various types and forms of explanation according to the type of explanance. At the same time, the explanation procedures may differ depending on the cognitive techniques and actions used in the process of their implementation.

In so-called. The standard concept of the analysis of science, put forward by supporters of logical positivism and widely used in the Western methodology of science in the 1940s and 1950s, was dominated by the deductive-nomolopic model of explanation formulated by K. Hempel and P. Oppenheim in 1948 (see: Hempel K. G The Logaka of Explanation, Moscow, 1998, pp. 89-146). This logical model of explanation was the application of the general hypothetico-deductive scheme (see the Lipothetico-deductive method, The hypothetical-deductive model) to the situation of explanation. In this scheme, we proceeded from the consideration of t. and. as an explanance. pomological statements that formulate the laws of science, and deduction of knowledge about the phenomenon being explained from these pomological statements was used as a logical method of explanation. The feasibility of such an explanation was considered as a factor of confirmation, justification of the pomological statement (see Justification of the Theory). Like any logical model of a real cognitive process, it had the character of a very strong idealization of it, exaggerating, firstly, the role of the laws of science as an explanance, and secondly, proceeding, like the standard concept of analyzing science as a whole, from the opposition of the context of discovery and context justification, it could not take into account the processes of improving knowledge in the course of the implementation of the explanation procedure. As for the role of the laws of science (the so-called nomological statements) in the processes of explanation, then, indeed, the most developed form of scientific explanation is explanations undertaken on the basis of theoretical laws and involving understanding of the phenomenon being explained in the system of theoretical knowledge, its assimilation in the scientific and theoretical picture of the world.

However, the author of the deductive-nomological model of explanation, K. G. Gempel, was subsequently forced to generalize it, formulating along with the deductive probabilistic-inductive or statistical version of the pomological model of explanation. But the main thing is that it would be wrong to underestimate the cognitive and methodological significance of various forms of explanation, the foundations of which are not necessarily the laws of science. T. n. Pomological explanations are characteristic of theoretical, mathematized natural science, primarily physics, and in scientific disciplines where theories in the strict sense of the term (see Theory) with their laws are not crystallized, other forms of explanation are common. Thus, in the disciplines of the social and humanitarian profile, typologies often act as the basis for explanation. For example, the explanation of the features of human behavior is given on the basis of the typology of characters in psychology, the explanation of social phenomena - based on the types of social structures and social actions in sociology, etc. The most important role in the sciences of animate and inanimate nature, social and humanitarian disciplines is played by of the phenomenon under consideration in the context of the systems, structures and connections covering it. This is how causal, genetically evolutionary, functional, structural-systemic, etc. explanations arise, where the explanance is not theories or laws of science, but some categorical schemes and pictures of the world that underlie scientific knowledge in a given subject area, say, an explanation any social or biological phenomena through the establishment of the functions that they perform in a social system or a living organism.

A special problem that caused a lively controversy in the philosophy and methodology of science is connected with the explanation of human actions and deeds in various humanitarian disciplines, in history, in the social sciences, where one way or another one has to consider various motivational and semantic attitudes determined by the human mentality as the basis for explanation. In this context, the problem of explanation turns out to be closely related to the problem of understanding in the specific meaning of this term in the tradition coming from Dilthey, in which understanding as the comprehension of the mental prerequisites for the creation of a text or cultural artifact in general is regarded as a specific method of humanitarian knowledge.

From a methodological point of view, the procedures of explanation cannot be reduced to the automatism of deductive conclusions. By itself, bringing phenomena under a general law according to the deductive-nomological scheme presupposes a certain constructive work of consciousness, which Kant called the “ability to judge,” that is, the ability to apply a general rule, a general norm in a particular situation. The real explanation procedures in science, even those that can be represented in the deductive-nomological model, are associated with “building bridges” between the object of explanation and its explanance, clarifying the conditions for the applicability of the general position, finding intermediate links, etc. The search for the foundations of explanation where there is no ready-made knowledge under which the explained phenomena could be summed up, it becomes a powerful stimulus for the development of scientific knowledge, the emergence of new concepts and hypotheses. In particular, the search for explanatory factors is often a prerequisite for theorization of knowledge, the transition from its empirical level to the formation of theoretical concepts, the development of what can be called primary explanatory schemes, which at first represent ad-hoc (i.e., explanations of a given case), but can then be expanded into a theoretical concept. Thus, for example, Durkheim's explanation of a greater number of murders in Protestant communities compared to Catholic ones, a lower degree of social cohesion in the former compared to the latter, which initially acted as an ad-hoc explanation, served as the basis for the creation of the concept of anomie, which was widely recognized in sociology as a cause of social disorganization. . In a situation where attempts to explain certain facts and circumstances within the framework of certain hypotheses, concepts or theories lead to a contradiction with the latter, i.e. real circumstances act in relation to them as counterexamples (see Counterexamples in science), the presence of such counterexamples - for example, the contradiction between the planetary model of the atom and the stability of electrons in orbit becomes a necessary condition for a critical analysis of the relevant knowledge and a stimulus for its revision. This revision by no means always leads to the rejection of this knowledge in the spirit of primitive falsificationism (see Falsification, Falsification), it leads to its clarification, concretization, improvement and development. At the same time, it is desirable that the changes introduced into the theory or hypothesis would not be only ad-hoc explanations of the identified counterexamples, but would increase the explanatory and predictive capabilities of the theory or hypothesis in relation to other facts. The overgrowth of a theory or hypothesis with a large number of ad-hoc explanations is evidence of its weakness.

Thus, the explanation as a whole is a constructive, creative cognitive procedure, as a result of which not only knowledge about the phenomenon being explained is enriched and deepened, but, as a rule, the knowledge used as the basis of explanation is refined and developed. The solution of explanatory problems acts as the most important stimulus for the development of scientific knowledge, its conceptual apparatus, which indicates the failure of a sharp opposition to the so-called. contexts of justification and discovery in the interpretation of explanation within the framework of the standard concept of the analysis of science.

The implementation of the functions of explanation in science is organically linked with prediction and foresight. In essence, considering scientific and cognitive activity as a whole, we can talk about a single explanatory and predictive function of scientific knowledge in relation to its object. Explanation, considered in this context, does not act as a particular cognitive procedure, but as a necessary function of scientific thinking, its cardinal setting .

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

An explanatory note is a document that must be attached to the materials about the misconduct. Sometimes explanations can play an important role in the fate of an employee: he can stay at work, and not be fired for violating discipline, if he correctly presents his point of view to the director and justifies his behavior.

The legislation does not require the mandatory compilation of notes, but written excuses are still a document that must be taken into account according to the requirements of the Labor Code. A personnel officer who is interested in an employee must be able to competently compose explanatory notes.

What is an explanatory note

The Labor Code contains a rule: all materials on violation of discipline in the company are analyzed only taking into account the explanations of the culprit. And this means that the degree of guilt of the employee and his possible prosecution is determined only after the culprit explains the circumstances and reasons for his behavior.

By order, the director has the right to request explanations, and the culprit must state them in writing, drawing up according to the rules. The fate of the violator depends on how the explanatory note is framed and how the explanations are presented: the director will decide whether to punish the employee or show leniency.

In fact, an explanatory note is an official document that, according to the norm of Article 193 of the Labor Code, must be attached to an order to give explanations. Explanations are like the last word of the defendant. Although they do not solve the problem, they will be taken into account, and possibly they will influence the decision.

Important

Disciplinary Order will be considered invalid , if two days before its publication (or earlier) no explanations were requested from the culprit.

The personnel officer should not forget about the need to remind the manager about the request for explanations, so that in the event of a disciplinary sanction, the actions are legal.

Important

The culprit has no obligation to write an explanation, but the order to give explanations must be handed over to him against signature!

If the offender refuses to sign the order, an act of refusal to sign is drawn up in his presence. There is another option: send the order by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. In this case, the personnel officer will have proof that the requirements of the Labor Code are fulfilled.

Types of explanatory notes

There are two types of notes which can act as:

• explaining the behavior of others;
• justifications for their own behavior.

The first type is applied if an emergency situation or violation of discipline occurred through the fault of outsiders. Such a note describes the circumstances that occurred without the participation of the addressee.

For clarity, an example of an explanatory note from a personnel officer attached to the vacation schedule:

The second type of explanatory notes is a statement by the employee of the circumstances of any violation of discipline or emergency that occurred through his own fault. Since our state is based on the rule of law, in each case, the participant in the dispute must be subject to the presumption of innocence. And therefore, it is impossible to categorically recognize the employee as guilty if he did not participate in the analysis of the situation.

For example, you cannot be reprimanded for being late to work if the latecomer is not asked to explain the reason for the delay.

At the same time, explanatory notes should be drawn up in such a way that the addressee can understand the reasons for the violation of discipline and the very essence of the situation, on which the decision directly depends: execute or pardon.

Differences of an explanatory note from a service, report or explanatory note

Explanations are not explanations and not a report, but an explanation of one's point of view, sometimes different from the generally accepted one, a kind of justification. In turn, a memorandum is a report of a violation, an explanatory note is an annex to the document containing an extended view of it, and a memo is a request.

As you can see, these four types of notes are completely different, but they have the same goal: to convey information. Meanwhile, the form and requirements for the design of these types of notes are similar.

How a note is made

Like any other official document, an explanatory note must be clearly structured. The required elements are:

• hat (indication of the full name and position of the director and the culprit);
• reference to the order or notice of the head;
• the essence of the problem;
• explanations;
• a request for mitigation or release from punishment;
• number and signature of the addressee.

You can make a note both on a computer and in handwriting. However, the impression of the author should not be spoiled by shortcomings:

• you need to write a note on flat paper;
• without errors and strikethroughs;
• in a respectful tone.

Important

A personnel officer can prepare a note form by structuring it, and if necessary, simply print it out and give it to the addressee: he will independently enter the circumstances and his data.

Explanatory note sample

Notification of the employee to give an explanation

It is not in vain that the explanatory note should contain a link to the order
directors. Indeed, one of the instructions of the Labor Code, when registering a violation of discipline, the culprit should be handed over against signature a demand for an explanation.

The requirement is made like this:

• the name of the company is indicated at the top;
• the date and registration number are put (coinciding with the entries in the registration log);
• the name is written (“Order” or “Demand” for giving explanations);
• the essence of the problem is described (when and why the act of violation of discipline was drawn up);
• the requirement itself is indicated (“I order: to the locksmith of the GC Trubin A.D. to provide the secretary with written explanations about the violation within 2 days from the date of delivery of this requirement”);
• the document is endorsed by the director;
• under the text, the signature of the culprit is put on familiarization with the document (or a link to the act of refusal to sign, or to a postal receipt for sending a registered letter to the culprit).

In its turn the general algorithm for applying punishment according to the rules of Article 193 is as follows:

• an act of violation is drawn up (namely, an act fixing the time of the violation and its essence - an event and a list of actors, and not a requirement to give explanations);
• an order is issued requiring the employee to explain the circumstances: the perpetrator must sign it for familiarization or receive it by mail (ideally, it should be dated the same date as the act of violation);
• the act and explanations are considered by the director and a decision is made (directly on the act, the director can put a visa, for example, “reprimand”);
• two days later, you can issue an order on discipline or not issue it at all, if the director deems it necessary to show leniency (it must be borne in mind that more than 30 days should not elapse from the moment the act was drawn up to the day the order was issued). This period does not include vacation or illness of the culprit).

All materials must be enclosed in the appropriate nomenclature folders. However, if the personnel department provides for separate cases for different types of documents, then copies of the act, the order to give explanations and an explanatory note must be pinned to the original order on discipline.

Important

If the culprit did not consider it necessary to explain himself in two days, it is necessary to draw up an act stating that the order was handed over, but the explanatory note was not provided on time.

Today we will talk about a very interesting phenomenon. For example, now those who have graduated from school know perfectly well why it snows or rains. Schoolchildren have the simplest knowledge of anatomy. We have become more attentive to our health. The level of medicine for all has grown significantly. And this means only one thing: we have numerous explanations. This is the last noun we will analyze today.

Meaning

Of course, the definition of “explanation” has many different sides, but you should still start with the meaning that is recorded in the explanatory dictionary in order to build everything else on this foundation. Of course, this is not the most interesting part, but it is necessary. So, the explanatory dictionary states the following:

1. Same as explain.
2. A written or oral justification or confession of something.
3. Something that clarifies or helps to understand something.

As you can see, there are many values. But you also need to understand what is behind the infinitive. Let's not bore the reader. The explanatory dictionary says the following: "Explain to someone or comprehend for oneself, make it clear, understandable." That is, the main thing in the noun "explanation" is finding cause-and-effect relationships between phenomena.

Usage examples

If you think about it, then all the meanings of the object of study come down precisely to understanding what is happening in the world in general. When the boss wants an explanatory note from an employee, he wants to understand why he was still late for his favorite and, of course, highly paid job. Everything else is clear. For example: "Peter acted in such a way that it is difficult for me to find any rational explanation for this" (this is to the 3rd value). Or this example: "It's hard for me yet to explain how the new system for evaluating the performance of each employee in our company works, but I will definitely think about it." In the latter case, the infinitive can be replaced with synonyms such as "comprehend" or "give an explanation." This, we hope, is clear. We move on.

Passion to explain is ineradicable

The paradox of human nature is that it is difficult to force people to learn, but their passion for explanation cannot be eradicated by any force. We do not know whether the reader observed or not, but there is such a phenomenon: preschoolers invent theories that explain various physical phenomena. Of course, these hypotheses are unscientific, but amusing. For example, the swaying of branches in the wind can be explained not by the wind itself, but by the movement of the earth. It is difficult to understand what logic forms such an interpretation, but it is obviously there.

People ancient and modern

But we will talk, of course, not about children, but about our ancestors. Until the time when people took a course towards the rationalization of existence, that is, they turned to a scientific worldview. And it happened in the 17th century. This period in history is called "New Time" and lasts from the 17th to the 20th century, although there is no consensus on the scope of this historical period. Someone argues that the New Age began almost at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, and ended at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

But we know that science has not always been ahead of the rest. Ancient people preferred magical cause-and-effect relationships, and, accordingly, this kind of explanation, this is a well-known fact. And the problems were also solved in a peculiar way: if there is no rain, a sacrifice is needed. And if it started to rain, the gods took pity on humanity. The world was much more interesting than it is now. Then nature was inhabited by gods and spirits who controlled everything. Now everything is bland and boring. This is probably why many, out of boredom, still believe in other worlds, omens, and other unprovable things. I do not want to realize that nothing but the material world exists. In one of the books of C. G. Jung it is said that the more a person learned about the world, the less gods became in it. And the one God as an idea is present in consciousness, because we have not yet solved some important questions of a metaphysical order: “What is the meaning of life?”, “Who rules the world?”, “Is there predestination?”. Maybe they have no answer in principle, so the idea of ​​God is eternal as a universal key to understanding and justifying the chaos and absurdity that is happening in reality.

Metaphor is not an explanation

Speaking about the interpretation of the meaning of the word "explanation", one cannot but mention the difficult relationship between the metaphor and the object of study. Why is it important? Because many people confuse these concepts and think that if you pick up a good metaphor, that is, an image, everything will immediately become clear. The cynical diagnostician Dr. House loves metaphors, but if his colleagues did not have a medical education, they would not understand him.

The subtle difference between a good image and an explanation

But sometimes a metaphor is the key to understanding the psychological state of a person, that is, using metaphors, you can convey a certain feeling to another. A well-known example is when a husband and wife perceive the world in completely different ways. She is a kinesthetic, that is, touches, sensations of the body are important for her, and he is a visual, that is, the picture is important to him, what he sees. The stumbling block is the crumbs on the dining table. The wife forgot to erase them. Her husband reminded her every day that the table should be clean, but nothing came of it. The couple even went to a psychologist, who used a metaphor. He said to his wife: "Imagine these crumbs in your nightgown." And since then, my wife has always wiped off the table. So the kinesthetic wife fully understood the visual husband. And in this case, the metaphor is only a way of understanding, a way to convey information to the other side, and the real reason why the crumbs annoyed the husband so much is that he is visual. Of course, it is important to understand the meaning of the word "explanation", this is understandable, but it is also important to catch the hand of the one who, instead of explaining, offers you a metaphor that does not make it any easier to comprehend what is happening. Images are good when there is no mystery in the mechanism of an unknown phenomenon. In other words, sometimes it's good if a person expresses himself directly.

Paranormal phenomena and the perspective of knowledge

After we understand what the word "explanation" means, it would be nice to consider events that cannot yet be interpreted by science. This, of course, is about phenomena that come out of the ordinary: psychometry, telepathy, telekinesis, ghosts, ghosts. The popularity of the science fiction series "The X-Files" is not worth talking about. This means that people want to believe. By the way, this is the main slogan of the serial film: "I want to believe", that is, "I want to believe."

But, in addition to an excellent plot, the inexplicable inspires a person with the prospect of learning something new. If science leaves the world without a mystical veil, then life will become insipid. All sorts of "tales from the crypt" and bewitching stories can be considered as an atavism of belief in a miracle among our ancestors. But in any case, the tension that arises between opposites saturates our lives with emotions and intrigue. And if you think total rationalization is a blessing, then rewatch the movie Equilibrium (2002) and re-read Huxley's Brave New World.

The therapeutic effect of revealing the causes of the phenomenon

This may seem strange to some, but the truth, in addition to practical benefits, also contains a therapeutic effect. The scientific data here cannot serve as an example, but when people break up, it is always a little easier if the man or woman knows the reason for the breakup.

In psychological practice, awareness of the problem is generally the cornerstone of the entire therapeutic process, and this applies to almost any type of treatment, no matter what psychological direction is meant. Psychological difficulties arise in a person for various reasons, but they all have one thing in common - the true cause of torment is always hidden.

What does explaining the whole picture mean for the client? This is liberation. It is clear that no amount of awareness will help if a person does not intend to change his life, but a true understanding of himself gives him the necessary impetus. As Jim Carrey's character said in Liar Liar, "The truth will set us free!" The way it is.

So, we have considered the question of what the word "explanation" means, as well as the subtleties associated with this noun.