Who is your head of Human Resources? in a small company, that person often has many hats, and their primary training was not in HR. I know because these people come to me asking questions that should be basic HR.
No problem. You can answer basic HR questions with a quick Google search or a quick phone call to an expert. But, when things really go downhill, you need an experienced HR person who knows how to act now. Sometimes there is no time for a phone call or a text message.
While we can all hope that the most difficult ask your HR head deals with is helping an employee through a request for a leave of absence. But that’s unlikely, and you will regret having an inexperienced person at your helm when these things happen.
Workplace violence.
How do you handle it when a male employee plays a “joke” on a female employee by jumping out of a dark corner and putting a plastic bag over her head? The employee believed it was okay because “he removed it when he realized she was upset/unable to breathe.”
To keep reading, click here: 4 True Workplace Horror Stories That Demonstrate Why You Need Professional HR
Any HR person with a few years of experience can tell similar stories. I have often thought about writing a book filled with stories from my 35+ years of experience but I am certain that no one would believe them, except for other HR people.
What can a good HR person do in any of these examples that the police can’t? All four justify calling them.
The police can arrest, but that’s all they can do. Who is going to deal with the terminations, the appeals, unemployment requests, putting violence victims on leave of absences, approving transfers and security increases?
Getting the jerks off the property is only step one.
Unfortunately, the police are — generally — not much help when the violence is only at the threat stage. Normally, law enforcement only acts after a crime has been committed, which — in the case of domestic violence — is sometimes murder.
Many years ago I was offered a job at a very small company. The CEO/manager (she did HR, too) gave me a “draft” offer letter in early November, after I had started working there. I suggested a change in the letter, and she did not give me the final “offer” letter until around Christmas time. Boy, was I naive!
Because it took so long for her to get around to taking care of HR issues, I was afraid that I would want to leave and have to wait for my 401(k) money. So, when I turned 59-1/2 years old, I withdrew my 401(k) money (without penalty) and rolled it over into a Rollover IRA. I continued to contribute money to my Roth IRA and saved the money that I would have contributed to my 401(k) plan.
I ended up staying for 7 years at that company and then retired. Most of my work experience before that job had been with large companies and the Federal government, which had their own HR departments.
Working at a small company was a shock to my system.
I recommend that the public schools offer some information to high school students about employment law. It’s too late for me, but not too late for the younger folks.
Yikes! I confess I used to think of HR as an “easy” job.
Very eye opening, thank you.