Why are Employees Told to Go to H.R. If They Have a Problem at Work

[Bing]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Nevada.

I've worked for major corporations for many years. The corporations ingrain into our heads time and time again --->if your boss doesn't fix your problem to your satisfaction , go to HR.

I wonder what's the real reason( for the corporation) to ingrain this into our heads.



I once went to HR about a supervisor that did many many fire-able offenses that my department turned a blind eye to. The director of HR told me that she recommended to our department head that my supervisor be fired. The HR director said that the department head chose not to fire my supervisor, therefor there's no way the director of HR can fire my supervisor. How true is this statement?

[flyingron]

HR employees are allegedly highly trained into both the corporate ethical policies and the state and federal law. They are then able to make recommendations to managers as to what SHOULD be done even if they don't have the power to directly take action, they are rarely in the chain of command on the decision making to fire or sanction employees, but that doesn't mean they have no role in the process.

[Bing]

HR employees are allegedly highly trained into both the corporate ethical policies and the state and federal law. They are then able to make recommendations to managers as to what SHOULD be done even if they don't have the power to directly take action, they are rarely in the chain of command on the decision making to fire or sanction employees, but that doesn't mean they have no role in the process.

Thanks for the alleged reason but what's the real reason employees are told to go HR?......

Every time I went to HR about my department, HR would relay to my department what I'm up to and HR and my department would conspire against me.

One time I went to HR over unsafe working conditions and then I called OSHA . HR and my department conspired to lie to OSHA about my complaint.

[flyingron]

That is the real reason, you can take your conspiracy theories elsewhere.

[eerelations]

Hey Ron - not necessarily! I'm in HR and I demand that employees to come to me with their complaints and issues specifically so that I can send poisoned airwaves into their brains with my laser-beam eyes! And I know for a fact that there are a lot of other HR folk out there who are just like me, they're always communicating with me about this on the radio I have in my head!

[Beth3]

I've worked for major corporations for many years. The corporations ingrain into our heads time and time again --->if your boss doesn't fix your problem to your satisfaction , go to HR.

I wonder what's the real reason( for the corporation) to ingrain this into our heads.

In a perfect world, so that HR can get the problem resolved.

I once went to HR about a supervisor that did many many fire-able offenses that my department turned a blind eye to. The director of HR told me that she recommended to our department head that my supervisor be fired. The HR director said that the department head chose not to fire my supervisor, therefor there's no way the director of HR can fire my supervisor. How true is this statement?

I expect it's completely true as the department head didn't report to the director of HR. HR is not line management; they are basically internal consultants. The director of HR, or even the V.P. of HR, very seldom is in a position to fire someone who doesn't report to them. All they can do is strongly advise a termination and escallate the situation up the chain-of-command with their recommendations. How much power H.R. has to effect the correct solution depends how much authority they've been given by the CEO.

[yakman]

HR should not be confused with union representation. The HR department's primary responsibility is to protect the company against liability. If a complaint is submitted it is taken seriously but can often backfire on the complainer for various reasons, sometimes depending on the ethics of the company. All non-union companies encourage their employees to contact HR in case there is a problem, but don't be fooled into thinking that it is necessarily for the employee's benefit.

As a purely anecdotal example, I went to HR at a previous employer recently to complain about outrageous treatment from a mid-level manager that was thoroughly unprofessional and threatening. Although I was the acknowleged best employee in my department I was "laid off" within a week. I was told on the exit interview that there was nothing wrong with my work, and that they were just cutting back. Senority was overlooked and many incompetent employees are still working there. I also worked and retired from a very large corporation as a union employee that had an HR department. I was no fan of the union but it was common knowledge that going to HR for anything was like painting a bullseye on your back. This was demonstrated many times over the years and the best advice was to just do your job and fly under the radar. Unfortunately this attitude is couterproductive in my opinion when specific managerial conduct is damaging the company.

[Bing]

After reading everyone comments. Going to HR is like appealing to the company conscious to "do the right thing". The results of the company conscious could be positive or negative.

[eerelations]

Positive or negative, just make sure you wear your tin-foil hat whenever you go see HR.