In my preceding blog I refused to wink at the hugely unbalanced manner in which our government honors employers versus employees in the private sector. Government employees, on the other hand—like for the City of Saint Petersburg (where I worked for 33 years)--are protected by established procedures in the Human Resource Department. These rules and regulations allow employees to appeal to the HR Department should they believe they have been treated unjustly in serious matters. Cases are routinely handled there. But firstly these HR polices provide a cocoon of protection in the manner that criminal and civil law provide protection by restraining unleashed arbitrary impulses but as applied here precipitous behavior on the part of supervisory personnel. It provides a discerning pause for management to re-evaluate, further analyze, and explore the nature of the problem. Most importunately it accommodates human nature by protecting against our tendency towards negative reflexive judgment of others (much as governmental branch limitations provide structural dampening effects). In many ways the most powerful and arbitrary government in our everyday lives can be the naked force of an employer given free reign to play a revengeful and spiteful god. A total lack of a fair grievance procedure can encourage the good and honest employer to court the darker side. It is imperative that employees in the private sector have a fair and respectful way to gain an objective review of what they take to be major injustices. This is not so much a pocket book issue as a human rights issue requiring a frank recognition of the Fundamental Attribution Error. Please refer to this link for my personal challenges with the Fundamental Attribution Error: https://www.wayneblogs.com/2013/08/hounded-by-fundamental-attribution-error.html
