3 ms·
HR does not protect you. They have two roles, and two roles only: - They protect the company from being sued. - They fire you.
by everdrive 7y ago
HR does not protect you. They have two roles, and two roles only:
- They protect the company from being sued.
- They fire you.
- romanows 7y agoNote that protecting the company from being sued can mean protecting you. For example, a harasser might be fired to avoid a lawsuit. But you hear stories about HR people putting the company in legal jeopardy (e.g. not firing a harasser) due to their own bias, laziness or in-company relationships.
- threatofrain 7y agoIf you’ve been harassed at work it gives you an upper hand to complain about your workplace, and so you also present a liability to the company now that harassment occurred. That might not mean consequences but it does mean you are more risky, even if there’s no easy way to deal with that risk now.
- Mangalor 7y agoOk, so, "let harassers get away with it" is the correct answer? Surely not.
- m0zg 7y agoHarassment is difficult to document. If it's not documented and there are no witnesses willing to corroborate (i.e. if you can't sue), to HR it doesn't exist. Anecdotally, I've also seen people complain of harassment when e.g. someone complemented them on their looks when wearing a bikini at a company event in Hawaii. So while I in general have no sympathy for HR, they do end up in such bullshit situations from time to time.
- m0zg 7y agoCritically, if you have hard evidence that could screw the company, they fire the person that would minimize the damage if you were to sue. But yeah, 100% of their responsibility centers around protecting the company, and 0% around protecting the employee _per se_.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]