School ethical climate and teachers' voluntary absence

Abstract

Purpose-This paper aims to offer a theoretical framework for linking school ethical climate with teachers' voluntary absence. The paper attempts to explain this relationship using the concept of affective organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach-Participants were 1,016 school teachers from 35 high schools in Israel. Data were collected by self-report questionnaires and tested against archival data. The GENMOD procedure of SAS was applied. This procedure enables regression models for variables which are not necessarily normally distributed-such as absence-to be fit and also to account for the intraclass-correlations within schools. Absence was measured by frequency of absence events, and ethical climate was measured by two dimensions: caring and formal. Findings-Results show that caring and formal ethical climates are both related to teacher absence. Affective commitment was found to mediate the relationship between formal ethical climate and absence frequency. This is not true for the ethical climate of caring. Practical implications-School principals may reduce voluntary absence by creating an ethical climate focused on caring and clear and just rules and procedures. Originality/value-Whereas past research on work absence focused primarily on personal antecedents, the present study addresses factors embedded in school ethics. The results contribute to knowledge of the influence of organizational context on absence behavior.

Ethical Climates in Organizations: A Review and Research Agenda

“…Researchers have continued to examine the relationship between ethical climates and work attitudes including organizational commitment and job satisfaction. This work is generally supportive of the findings of the meta-analysis (Elçi & Alpkan, 2009;Filipova, 2009;Kim & Miller, 2008;Shafer, 2009;Shafer, Poon, & Tjosvold, 2013a;Shapira-Lishchinsky & Rosenblatt, 2010;Wang & Hsieh, 2012). For example, Filipova (2009) found that whilst caring climates were positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, instrumental climates were negatively related to organizational commitment and positively related to turnover intentions.…”

Leader–Member Exchange, Work Engagement, and Psychological Withdrawal Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

“…Psychological withdrawal behaviors can be traced as willful lateness (Blau et al, 2004), intent to leave, and absenteeism (Koslowsky, 2009;Biron and Bamberger, 2012). Psychological withdrawal behavior describes the employees' behavior and attitudes responsible for the low level of job performance at the workplace (Johns, 1997;Shaw et al, 2005;Kaplan et al, 2009;Shapira-Lishchinsky and Rosenblatt, 2010). A low level of the social exchange relationship between leader and followers lowers down the employees' performance, commitment, and the job satisfaction level of the employees at the workplace (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002).…”

Role of Organizational Ethics in Sustainable Development: A Conceptual Framework

“…On one hand, an organization's members who perceive their organizational climate as ethical often show concern for the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility (e.g. concern for stakeholders affected by their performance) [62]. On the other hand, employees who perceive an unethical organizational climate are likely to minimize the importance of ethics and social responsibility [63].…”