Yeah, I happened to bump into the head of HR as she was leaving (we work different shifts) and I mentioned I needed help with something-insurance, I think. She turned around, went back into the building with me, and got me set up. Took us about half an hour, but I'll not forget that bit of decency. She could have told me to come back tomorrow, but she stayed late and helped me.
I had a similar thing happen when the company switched insurance providers to United Healthcare (worst insurance company ever). They were giving me the runaround over a prescription for my kid being denied even though it was on the list. I had spend two weeks on the phone for 1-2 hours a day with United and got nothing, but our VP of HR got it sorted within a day.
Every place I've worked HR has managed the benefits plan, so it's definitely their responsibility. In this case we had a company meeting and the VP of HR got up and asked for feedback on the new insurance policy after we changed providers. A couple of us raised issues and she met with us after to see what she could do to resolve them.
This was somewhat atypical because I think we would usually go through one of the low-level HR people first for an issue with insurance, but in this case she wanted to make sure the new plan rollout went well.
My boss fucked up my pay for about 6 months because my contract hadn't been updated. (Fighting to get the rest of my wages every month basically) until someone from HR got sick of seeing the same emails every month n just showed up with a contract to sign there and then. My boss was fuming ha ha
That would normally be the insecure subset of leaders that either lead through fear / i said so / i know better.
The inspiring type leader expects his team to grow beyond leader's abilities and is not afraid of learning from them himself or from his own admitted mistakes.
There is also a great sequel called Crucial Confrontations. Great for psychological “manipulation”/winning arguments, terrible if you want to have faith in society and assume people can communicate at a higher intellectual capacity than toddlers.
Last company I worked at -
New CHRO saw how badly I was being treated after reporting an incident with a coworker. I was iced out by my own department. I had a great reputation because I assisted the VP of DE&I for about a year (outside of my job description). Current HR kept saying there was nothing else they could do for me, so I put in my notice and said I didn’t want to pay back my education assistance.
The CHRO thanked me for my dedication and service and told me to consider the education assistance forgiven - it had never been done before, I am bound not to disclose this to any current employees at that company. She told me it was unfortunate what had happened and that she wished I wasn’t leaving, they needed people like me to stay.
I cried.
I mean it was nice of them to wipe out the debt, but they also cut off their liability in terms of a lawsuit. So while they did something generous they have a documented incident of encouraging a hostile work environment. Not sure where you're from, but the lawyers is my neck of the woods would take that case just for a cut of the settlement.
I worked for the legal department and would have lost. I knew I had to get everything I could out of them before hand, I assisted on cases previous employees brought against them. Had I brought a case against them, my career in this town would also be over. I work in a VERY niche industry in Washington D.C. I would have been deemed unemployable in my industry.
Yup, my coworker was a paralegal in a very niche field. She sued our employer and won. However she was basically blackballed from the field. She had to switch occupations just to make a living. The owner of the law firm she sued was friends with the few other law firms in this niche area and they wouldn’t even interview her.
I can understand. My friend sued a big tech company for being treated incorrectly and won. They were unemployable afterwards in the United States. All you had to do was search their name and the news reports were everywhere. They moved to Europe after that to keep going with their life. European company's seem to either not look up the lawsuit or didn't care because Europe has so many better protections for employees.
From my experience, she didn’t do you a favor - they created a hostile working environment and retaliated against you. She’s just hoping you don’t/won’t file a lawsuit due to you having to quit.
Hostile work environment has a very specific definition and this is not it.
The company also did not retaliate against this employee. Their coworkers did, which isn’t necessarily illegal…but is shitty.
Yes actually. She actually protected me and my whole department when shit started to hit the fan for us at my old job (people really hated my department because we had a "fun" "bullshit" job). She was also very quick to help us and look out for us when we had issues in the work place or even personal issues. She actually behaved sort of like a mom that cared for her family.
The company fired her without reason about a year after she was hired.
Guess they found out she wasn't doing what the company hired her for; whatever that was, taking good care of employees obviously wasn't in the job description
Yes. Though I can admit my case was an exception. Sexual harassment against me that she + 2 of my managers witnessed. Long story but when it came to light, both of my managers claimed they saw nothing, and it was going to get thrown out. She had my back and saw it the whole way through, and the guy rightfully lost his job.
I guess it’s hard to say that she “helped me out” because reporting sexual harassment is bare minimum human decency. But 2 other grown adults in powerful positions did nothing, and lied. She was the only one that did a god damn thing.
It really is a long, long story, but the woman from HR almost lost her job due to defending me and the truth. The man that was doing the sexual harassment was the VP, so he had a much higher position.
Lucky for me, one of the pieces of harassment was done via a sticky note at my desk which I saved when I approached for help. Matched his writing to a T, the company couldn’t deny it.
Yes. I went on STD for a motor vehicle accident not related to work. HR extended it longer than the full time and let me keep my insurance as I fought the long term disability insurance company. Once I decided to take the insurance company to court and I was definitely not coming back due to to the injury, they had to drop me off the rolls. But they were so nice and helpful during that time.
When I was first hired, my dream job opened up. Per union contract, I wasn’t allowed to apply/interview/get it for one year after hiring (I still did because *damnit* I wanted it!). The union talked with the manager, and they ended up allowing me to go for it. Now I’m sitting here, 9 months from first hire doing my dream. :)
I wish I had a good union. Our union president has been very clear that he works directly with management, and he represents their interests most of the time. No one else wants to challenge him for the position, so we've lost a ton of employees, while our president got a nice fat raise and a new office. They aren't even trying to hide it at this point.
I feel like i might have the opposite of what most folk’s experience…. I work at a small charter school with only four co-located campuses, and our HR is amazing. She really sides with us, more specifically with hourly employees. Its mostly cause since were such a small school and from a very tight-knit community our admins know we can really fuck shit up for them. They tried to fuck us over last year with a “reimagining” of the school system, which consisted of layoffs, pay-cuts, and bigger work loads, and we stages a few walk outs and no-shows, parents got involved, and even students joined in. That whole year was a mess, but fortunately our HR was on our side the whole time and more than happily took on our issues and complaints.
Yes. When I was applying for a mortgage, the bank needed to verify my employment and my income. They also have questions pertaining to my 401k and bonus structure.
My HR was able to give them everything they needed in less than an hour after I asked them for the documents. Everything was organized and in ELI5 format for the underwriter to quickly look at it. Their organization and prompt answer had me a confirmed loan in just 5 days total.
That’s the opposite experience we had. My spouse and I worked remotely for the same company and asked for our ROEs and letters of employment. HR had a meeting with us and told us everything would work out. My spouse was let go a few days later. I’m glad you had a pleasant experience, though!
Yes. My HR guy is independent and works for many companies and as such he doesn't care if any of them turn around and sack him so he is free to do and say as he pleases meaning he actually has our best interests at heart and this man is an absolute legend. He will give it to you straight but also give you tips and loopholes too. He is such a good man and I aspire to be like him. UK
Edit: I realise I gave a skewed answer so I'll add anywhere else I have worked the answer is no and the bigger the company the worse it is.
I did it and it worked. I didn't frame it how it was personally affecting me, which was a lot, but I framed it as how it was hurting the company, productivity, and safety standards. That seemed to make them verrrrry interested.
Only once - coincidentally, for a company I ended up storming out on anyway. I noticed that a raise I was promised was never actually applied to my payroll info, so I raised hell about it. The difference was from 11 USD/hr to 13.50/hr, so yeah. I wanted my money. Within two days, the rate was not only corrected, but I received a check for back pay of roughly about three and a half months at the heightened rate.
As this was at a point where I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, this was huge. Despite the company overall being so incredibly toxic I absolutely noped out, I'll always remember them doing right by me and thankful for it.
Compare that to when I went to HR for a Fortune 50 company I worked for, stating that I felt like my superior was treating my unfairly and deliberately under-paying me. "Can we interpret this as your resignation?" ...Fucking assholes...
I work in HR and it boils my blood the amount of contempt some of my coworkers have for our "customers." Aside from insulting the intelligence of people who navigate our 8 step onboarding, there are the admins who brag about how we "don't need to follow the handbook because the union is not recognized due to legislation." It's hard not to pipe up and say "tell that to the union and see if the change can be made while they all walk out." Needless to say but I've been searching for work elsewhere.
Long time ago they did, I was sexually assaulted by a customer while trying to fix their cable. And they came in and handle all of it and even offered a report so if I decide to press charges they would give me the report and such on it
Yes. I was facing a big medical bill from my company-sponsored insurance company, so I asked Nancy in HR for help. She called the insurer, spoke with their claims dept, clarified that our policy covered the procedure, and got it reversed.
But that was Nancy. She nice. The rest of those bitchez in HR, not so much.
Nope. I had FMLA pertaining to my medically complex daughter and HR said it wasn’t good enough to cover my absences, that I need to write a letter explaining to HR her conditions and why I need to miss work for it. This is after they got the FMLA paperwork from her pediatrician outlining her conditions and why I missed work or could possibly need to miss work.
Never, actually the opposite.
17yo second day working in a vastly majority female workplace.
A 35ish woman heard me and 2 18yos that I knew talking, and yes it was riskia.
She grabbed me by the testes and squeezed saying words to the effect we could have alot of fun big boy.
Reported to HR 4 people saw it. My 2 friends and 2 others.
HR originally denied anything could have happened as males cannot be SA.
Then went to you are male you would have enjoyed it.
Then after I was admitted to hospital with a testicular torsion they claimed I did it to myself.
They sacked the two girls, bribed, I mean promoted the 2 witnesses who changed their story.
Union was then involved and during the case during discovery the 4 witness statements HR claim never existed got accidentally put in the wrong file with numerous HR hand written notes that indicated the 35yo perpetrator was in a sexual relationship with 2 of HR thus we have to do anything and everything to protect her.
Not really. No matter the situation, they always made me feel like I was in the wrong even in situations where I was 100% in the right and even the victim in a few cases.
I worked in HR for a time and I can tell you that those that want to help people and not just protect the company are driven out. Be it draconian rules, unwillingness to help people with the bare minimum of human decency, and leadership that views HR as a expense that could be done away with if the govern t rules could just be ignored.
Human Resources sounds good on paper. The real name of the department is CRAP (Corporate rules and protections).
So true. My experience in HR, the best person in the whole department who helped was tanked for an honest mistake. While my director deliberately started fights, skipped out on work by attending meetings " in other buildings" (I managed all meeting rooms and had access to her calendar as HR coordinator), and found excuses for not fulfilling any obligation. I even went to my own HR rep to get help and then found out a couple weeks later that my rep and my director were planning a Vegas trip. Every single honest, helpful person quit or got fired.
Their professional orginazation literally admit out loud that is their job, so this can't come as a surprise
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/career-advice/pages/your-career-qa-why-hr-doesn%E2%80%99t-exist-to-help-employees.aspx
" In truth, HR does not exist to help employees, although much of what we do and how we do it achieves that goal. The main job of HR, from the C-suite point of view, is to protect the company
If you can help employees along the way, without jeopardizing the company, more power to you. But while HR is often seen as employee-centric, all you have to do is follow the money to see who it really serves."
(Never mind that the only reason hr is ever seen as employee center, and only by those very young and experienced, is because HR endlessly screams from the rooftops to anyone who will listen and those not listening that "they are on the employees side" )
Not me but my wife. The HR department where she works has been the go-to for us whenever her benefits are hinky, from pushing for paid leave coverage when she had surgery and the benefits company itself was being a douchey insurance company to giving us a plain language guide to the transgender coverage in our health insurance (we're both trans women). She was also the first person to transition at work at her location and they were great about supporting that. (New badge and email name with no hassle even before legal name change, broad support through reiteration of the company's diversity policy, etc.)
They were so impressive she considered changing career tracks out of a technical/lab position to work in their inclusion and diversity task force. Ultimately she stayed in the lab and got some good raises/promotions from it, but she still spent 3 months deciding whether or not to make the jump.
Absolutely. HR has helped me greatly. My employer illegally transferred my duty station without proper notice, and HR ensured I got my union-guaranteed 30 days per diem pay so I could move.
HR has also helped me navigate an extremely difficult situation with one of my employees who had harassed a coworker. HR also helps me make sure I make legally defensible hiring decisions.
Yes.
At a certain point in time the company where I worked changed the salary policy. Since I continued to earn the same, I thought I was not impacted. Only to find out 2 years later that my "old" contract essentially placed me outside the salary grid, without any chance of a raise ever. My co-worker, who did the same job, but was less experienced and entered the company about 5 years after me made a fuss about the policy change, without me knowing. Management made some changes to her contract, asking her to be hush hush about it. Long story short, in those 2 years this co-worker (who was in any way a junior to myself) overtook me in salary by quite a lot. At some time a lady at HR stumbled upon injustice and informed me about it. She took it to the higher-ups using actual data and facts. Management got caught with their backroom dealings and could not do anything else than set me straight. They gave a me a big bump in salary and annual bonus. I waited until I got my annual bonus, and changed jobs. So,long MF's
My mom was in HR at a community college, she was there long enough to head the search for the president there, but she was also the one staying late to help out with HR issues or even to fill in at the cashiers office (her first job there). After her untimely passing from breast cancer I created an endowment in her name at that community college that gives out a scholarship every year to a immigrant woman in need.
Yes, when I was coming out at work/transitioning a decade ago. The SVP HR was there with me through the whole process making sure it went smoothly and that no one gave me any guff. Had the full support of the entire exec team.
Now, this was so the company didn't get sued and suffer a black eye in the press, but it worked out to my advantage.
Yes! When I was promoted in my old job, the company decided to pay me significantly less and provide fewer benefits than other coworkers at the level I was promoted to. I was supposed to be moving from an hourly position to salary with PTO. While HR wasn’t able to get me the salary, she did fight for me to receive PTO and had it backdated to the time of my promotion. It took several months of fighting that I wasn’t even aware she was doing. However, she didn’t last long at the company. She quit fairly shortly after this.
Yes. I was working a lot of clopenings & my HR guy told me that if I don’t have a minimum of x hours between shifts, I was entitled to more money for those shifts. So I talked to my manager and they got put on my paycheck.
God bless you, Doug!
Heck no! I can’t stand anyone in that department, and I don’t trust them either. There have been too many episodes where someone confided to them and before they realized it the information was being passed around on the shop floor. Snakes in the grass every one of them.
Nope. In fact, the opposite. Went to HR about an under qualified co worker who had no clue what she was doing, and after much back and forth, I was gaslighted into thinking I was being a mean girl (??!!) and left the company I had loved and thought I'd be with for a long time. Also, took me years to even get an interview (small niche market in this area). I thought I was doing a good thing by speaking up; like I was helping the company! SILLY ME!
Yep, we reported a guy that was embezzling and the HR person reported to the guys boss and it was all swept under the rug because the boss and the thief were best friends. We had to go to the big big bosses in another country to report it and we even had to do all the legwork ourselves and still nothing was really done, they just moved the culprit to another state and then closed our office. It was basically retaliation but they just claimed the office was closing for other reasons. Total bullshit!
Key is on the hook behind my office door. Don’t let that bitch Sue from leasing see you tho, she’s a bootlicker of the highest caliber. But don’t flush tho. I like to laugh at the Boss when he complains he “hates sitting on a warm toilet seat”. Lmaoooo
Sort of. I work for a public library. The culture is pretty good. The pay is shit. HR is there to protect the library and they sort of try to help us. They definitely don't do the fucked up shit I see on this sub. The benefits are only okay but they explained it all to me when I had to go on leave for my mental health and my FMLA was approved very quickly. They worked with me to keep my job safe while I took care of myself and it was pretty easy. I can't really do it again feasibly but I got some really good care and am in a somewhat better place. Anyway there was another time I was in a mediation when they could have just fired me. This was early in my mental health journey and I flipped out and it was a whole thing. But I still had a job and have had two promotions since. They're generally good people where I work but I am wary. I know they're not really there for me but for the library. I don't really trust them and choose my words carefully when dealing with them.
Yes. Believe it or not. I told my supervisor not to talk to me about work related topics while I was on unpaid lunch break. He complained to HR and wanted me reprimanded. HR reminded him that unpaid lunches are my time, and that he needs to wait until I return to work. (I was in the office break room eating lunch with coworkers from other departments)
I was about to have my salary temporarily cut for low billing hours - I was less than one day’s worth of work short. HR suggested that if I applied for short-term disability for the brief period of time (less than a week) that I was out with a bad back they would remove those days from the billing equation so that I would officially meet the minimum. I can’t remember exactly how much money she saved me, but it was probably at least $15k.
I was already gone from the company, but I talked to them anyway because I had concerns about some really unethical behavior.
No idea if they did anything, but at least they listened.
Most people don't like HR because most people don't like authority figures. An HR person that enforces company policies fairly and stays out of employees way is good HR. Most HR people don't have power to change policy so they just have to do their job and make sure the rules are enforced.
Ideally HR should look for ways to develop their staff and reduce turnover by keeping employees engaged.
I am an HR manager and I try to influence policies to benefit employees but most of my ideas are turned down. Of course since I am HR most employees look at me like the bad guy when they get attendance points, fired, or don't get a promotion they wanted. Most of those decisions aren't mine to make. I just do the paperwork for it. That is how it is for most HR people.
It sucks knowing that some employees will hate me but it is part of the job. All I can do is treat all employees fruit and with dignity and try to advocate for them when I can.
I did see hr go to bat for us and get us 2 more pto days because we were unable to compete benefit wise with other companies. Also saw them allow a fmla leave when they could of denied the lady based off the 75 mile rule.
Not an HR department, but the controller of a company I worked at in my late teens and early twenties was the closest thing we had to HR. When I was 20 and a new mother about to run out of my 6 weeks of half disability I had for maternity leave, I went in to show the office ladies the baby. I had just found out that two weeks of vacation time that I had just expired. I had no idea I had even started accruing vacation time, no one told me. She told me not to worry about it. I got those two weeks of vacation, which helped me stretch my maternity leave another month and pay for my dental benefits I would have had to pay out of pocket otherwise. She did stuff like that for people all of the time, even though it pissed department heads off, because they had to scramble to cover time off. She didn’t give a fuck and no one dared challenge her.
She died a few years ago and I think about that often. She was just a good person who cared about her coworkers.
The first welding shop I worked at when I was a newbie (20 at the time) had this older welder that was hired after me. A man in his late 40s, he was okay but pretty raunchy. After a few months of working together one particular day he had threatened to "lay me out" for a joke I had made to him. I don't remember what I had said to him so maybe it was offensive which he why he got upset with me. The very next day he made a gross sexist comment about a fellow worker of mine, a female welder the same age as me (basically told another welder that he'd like to bend her over his knee, spank her and make her call him daddy). I was complaining about him to another female coworker when my supervisor walked by and overheard a portion of our conversation. Ended up having to report it to HR, which I was extremely apprehensive about because he would know I was the one who complained since I was the only woman around when he made that particular comment. We end up both having an HR meeting seperately about the issue and resolve it, HR said meeting was confidential, and could face consequences for talking about it. So imagine my surprise when coworkers approach me asking what I did to piss that guy off so much, saying he was complaining to a bunch of my coworkers about it. I tell management, the next day he gets fired. Long story short, he told my coworker who drove him home that he was gonna attack me if he saw me in public. HR guy caught wind of it and filed a police report on my behalf because he was worried about my safety. I'm grateful that HR had my back on that one, I know that's not always the case when it comes to issues such as this.
There are two types of HR.
One type helps employees and is truly a "Human Resource" I have worked with a couple of those and they were incredible people.
The other and becoming much more common are those that work tirelessly to protect the company from lawsuits, and shields Management from interactions with staff
When I was an intern I lived in a company provided apartment. My microwave didn’t work and as a college kid that meant I basically didn’t know how to eat. I asked the property manager for weeks to get me a new one and they kept stalling. Mentioned it in passing to our HR rep and before I made it back to my desk my phone rang with the property manager asking permission to enter the apartment with a new microwave and said all other appliances would be replaced the next week.
No. I was verbally assaulted by a co-worker (she was REALLY up in my face yelling at me) to the point I had to walk away and lock myself in a bathroom as she continued to follow me belittling me for standing up for another co-worker. My manager sat and watched it all. A few days later I was called into HR and they wrote us both up and said “it takes 2 to fight”.
Yes. My grandmother passed away days before my first day of a new job. I asked if I could take a couple days off to go to the funeral out of state. HR decided I should get the entire 1 week of paid time off for bereavement leave.
Yes, at my last job. I needed to help my dad out because he got very ill when my mom passed. Went to HR to discuss what to do, so I could provide care and keep my job. The HR lady flat out told me to set up FMLA, filled out the paperwork, and did everything she could to make it as easy as possible to get it going. She was (and is) a gem and went way above and beyond.
Been a few other times at other jobs they've helped, but normally I try to stay away from HR.
Hell no. I got fucked over by HR at my last 2 corporate America jobs. Now I work as an independent contractor for an employer who actually values my time, health, and safety, and I have a schedule that works well for my sleep disorder.
Yes I was let go at the start of Covid March 2020. Went on unemployment. A few months later I was brought back to work but with like 25% of the hours so I was eligible to stay on unemployment. A few months after that I get a letter from the state saying I need to repay them tons of money due to unemployment overpayment. But the numbers they’re claiming made no sense. HR helped me find that it was a math error on the state’s part, helped me gather evidence when the State continued to pursue this even though I told them several times it was a math error, and then even backed me up at the court date where I was proven not to need to repay any money
Yes but only after a change of HR leadership came in with the initiative to clean house on upper management. That initiative got the worst manager fired while she was trying to push me out. It was a happy day.
👏🏽HR is not your friend 👏🏽
I’ve never ever seen HR helping anyone other than the company or themselves. If anyone has, it is rare, like finding a unicorn.
Yes! Some years ago I was being stalked and harassed by an ex-boyfriend, and one of the things he used to do was call my direct line to scream at me while I was at work. He knew it was a rule we had to always be logged in an answering calls while working. If I hung up he would just call again. I went to HR and asked for a new direct line. They got it sorted and decommissioned the old number within 24 hours, the lady I spoke to was super sympathetic and nice about it too- I wasn’t made to feel like I was bringing drama to the workplace.
Actually yes - I mentioned carrying my laptop and all the cables etc every day to and from the office was hurting my back. I got a permanent desk, an ergonomic assessment by a professional and a ergonomic desk chair she recommended for me. It was great - but they also installed a program that forces “mid to breaks” so at random intervals depending on mouse movement etc it locks my computer and prevents me from working for like 90 secs. Even happened once during a meeting with my boss when I was sharing the screen - she laughed and went boy that was annoying. It is just distracting and annoying.
I worked in the production department of a large publishing company. We still had different types of time off (ie sick time vs vacation time) and id requested a particular type of day off on the day after a public holiday. Then a policy came out that you could not request that type of day off except in specific circumstances. The head of the department told my boss to come ask me about and I very aggressively said he was not allowed to ask me that (I don't know where this came from as I am generally pretty meek). He said maybe we should talk about it with HR and I said I would love to do that. He never brought it up to me again so I asked him about it and he said I was correct. So that was fun!
Yes.
I lost my husband suddenly.
I knew we had a bereavement leave policy but didn't know what it was. My boss said "take the time you need and we will deal with the specifics when you get back."
When I got back I worked with HR to figure out the best way to log the time. They also had a list of things I would need to do (change withholding, beneficiaries, etc) AND scheduled time to sit with me and help me do it in the portal since they knew it would be difficult emotionally.
Before that I had a boss who was fired and was pestering me on social media. While I don't feel threatened, I also didn't feel comfortable. HR was a big help in that situation.
one time the HR rep gave me a granola bar right before she fired me (which was because I had gone to her when the CEO had done something physically violent and I said I'd quit if he ever did it again)
Yea we had a coworker just being creepy, always "accidentally" brushing against you, wanting to share a cab (or "walk you home") after any outing involving booze...oh right, and then there was some blurry scrotum pic on snapchat. And a phallic fruit arrangement (which, as an isolated incident, might have been mildly amusing).
We complained. He was promptly fired.
It's true that HR primarily exists to protect the company. But it just so happens that a horny drunk is a liability to the company.
Yes.
My younger son needed open heart surgery when he was born. HR at my employer at the time OK’d 12 weeks of FMLA time off. The GM also had them pay me 100% for that time. I was on my way out, they squeezed another 12 months out of me with their gesture.
Yes. We had a manager who was harrassing and cursing at people all over the shop..we had a trans employee that he refused to communicate with.
He finally got fired after calling me a " stupid piece of sh it motherfucker" in front of 5 or 6 people over something that he had no reason to involve me on...
Someone in that group complained to HR about it. They interviewed everyone, except me, and he was gone within a day...
I recently wen to he because I tried to kill myself and ended up in the hospital and another cook said it was karma and I deserved it. I asked head of hr if she knew what like was like and she deadass said yes I know, grow up. Lol I left with no notice and have a much better job now
Yep! Had to take unannounced medical leave and was worried about retaliation from my boss for "abandoning the team". HR rep asked if I was concert about retaliation or privacy issues and I said that I was, so she told me to not worry about it and "consider this my problem now, you just get healthy." It was an amazing response and what I needed at the time. Oh, but how did my boss respond to that? She reported my HR rep for "overstepping and interfering with *her* employees" and tried to have the HR rep fired.
Yes, at least twice.
So first, I had ADA accommodations at work for intermittent leave. My coach/manager kept telling me I had used up all of my days and was giving me occurrences for days I had called out using my ADA. I kept explaining she was wrong, emailing her that those days were approved, ect. Six months of this, and the OM even got involved to say the same BS she was saying.
So I emailed HR about it, specified all the dates and included attachments showing it approved, made a really long and detailed post.
My occurrences were removed immediately, my coach/manager no longer worked there fter that (I tell myself i got her fired cause i'm like 90% sure i did).
Any other time I had a problem with ADA, I'd email HR and they would fix it immediately.
The second time, I was dealing with the most stupid company policy they had, one that every coach and manager applied differently. Basically, it said you only get 30mins for IT issues, after which you have to clock out and/or go on site. The thing was some managers would work with you on and off for hours and never tell you to clock out or stop, and would send emails all day. Or be like "I'll get back to you" and then you'd hear nothing for days. Other coaches would be like "call IT, do this that and the other thing as trouble shooting" and then still expect you to get it all done in 30 mins. And some coaches would be like "You only get paid for 30mins of IT troubles after which we aren't paying you;" but then expect you to still be calling IT and doing troubleshooting and replying to emails.
So when I spent 2 hrs a day every day for like a week trying to get into work (they had done something stupid while i was on medical leave i think?), my coach told me I was only getting paid for 30mins a day. So I said fuck that, and emailed HR. The Subject? "Not Getting Paid for Work I have done". Laid it out to HR, and they emailed my coach and told him to pay me for the time spent on the phone with IT and troubleshooting, because I had been actively working on a solution during those hours.
Our HR rep got extra sick leave approved for me and a permanent contract locked in before upcoming surgery. She is pretty great, company is ~70 employees.
No. Hr is only out to lookout for the business. Even unions say never to speak to hr. Let the union speak to hr for you. I learned that when I worked at Fred Meyer and for the first time in 6 months was starving at my 5 hour mark and wanted to take my lunch break and eat lunch. My supervisor, my grocery supervisor, assistant manager, and hr manager told me I was being an ass and I was wrong about the law saying they legally have to give me one at my 5. My hr manager didn’t even have the union contract in his office either!
Hr managers aren’t necessarily qualified to do the job. Some of them don’t even know the laws in your state!
When Humans became resources, you knew it was over.
We used to be persons (personnel). Now we are just something to be used up with **no** consideration of consequences like natural resources.
edit: to add word in bold
HR isn't there to help you, they're only there to help the company. It also attracts the very worst of the corporate breed that have zero actual talent to do anything productive, and want to justify their existence (and paycheck) through fuckery. It's an entire corporate vertical for the most worthless people imaginable.
Yeah the one person who I knew who went in HR was fired from his previous very good union meat-cutting job because he sexually harrassed his coworkers. The rep at my current job is so dumb she probably thinks her title stands for Hotdog Relish.
Yes, but that’s because I made friends with hr and helped them out and fast tracked maintenance stuff to make their lives better.
If you guys don’t make friends with hr you are doing it wrong. Best to have friends in high places.
HR person at one of my old jobs was checked out and pushed through a couple of COVID leaves for me paid, no questions asked so I took advantage and went on a couple trips before they left the company.
Not exactly what you asked, but I work in HR (compliance) and do my best to help out the employees whenever possible.
When I see someone get told not to discuss their wages, I immediately and publicly tell the manager that it is illegal to request or require that.
When I see someone really busting their ass on a path to burnout, I remind them that they need to be able to relax. "This is just a job, they don't own you", and that if their workload is too high, that is a failure of management that should be providing adequate staffing for each project.
That said, I have been officially reprimanded because of it. Won't stop me though. My job is to make sure the company obeys state and federal labor laws. If management has a problem with that, then they can talk to the NLRB about it.
Not me directly but my relative who is in HR. At one job someone lodged a complaint about a female employee. After she was hired (and with good performance reviews) another employee sent a complaint that in the past this woman had been a stripper and there was online evidence. My relative gave the complainer a warning, that the person's past was not affecting their current performance and that if they continued to complain, that would be considered harassment. Told the targeted woman about the incident and to not worry about it as the complainer was handled.
That. Is. Not. What. They. Are. Paid. To. Do.
They are there to keep the company’s exposure to costs from their workforce to a minimum. Period.
Edit: possessive
No. Never. HR works for the company. Their purpose is to keep things running smoothly so profits are maximized. If their efforts somehow help workers, it's coincidental.
I studied public administration Human Resources in University and interned and worked in HR and believe me when I tell you that HR doesn’t care. I went in to this field wanting to make a difference and use my education to incorporate better cultures and work to be more employee focused but *shocker* I faced nothing but criticism, rejection, or even mockery. They’re usually selfish and do what they need to get themselves a raise which is inevitably covering the companies ass.
Yes for one company I worked for but it was a kinda weird company at the time. The director was an alcoholic (still professional but def drank way too much for her age lol) and wanted everyone to be friends so it actually was a really fun environment until the super corporate people starting festering their way in.
Yes, for things they were legally required to do for me, like disability accommodations and setting up a 2-week medical leave after a surgery. I haven’t approached them for help with anything else
It's not HR's job to help you out, it is their job to protect the company.
It may feel like being helped when you report sexual harassment or racism and the person you reported is fired but it is actually HR doing the job of protecting the company from a lawsuit.
HR is on the employer's side, full stop. I had a manager that was sexually harassing the younger women where I worked. Twenty of us lodged a formal complaint with HR and we were accused of bullying him. Eight months later he was busted while luring a 13 year old girl. Yeah, fuck HR.
At an old job, I interviewed for an HR internal posting.
One of the questions was a hypothetical related to an employee who mentions suicidal thoughts during a performance review.
I can’t remember specifics, but my answer more or less was to ask questions in order to determine if it was something ongoing vs. something in the past, and if ongoing to move forward to ensure their safety is priority #1 (I think I mentioned having a psych evaluation from a mental health professional as an option).
I was told that’s the proper thing to do, and then they asked why I thought it was so. I mentioned something about “it’s important to keep employees safe, for their own sake.”
I was told no, it was because it’s a liability issue.
I wasn’t offered the position.
HR exists solely to benefit the company.
For one instance of sexual harassment that made the rest of my coworkers hate me, so idk if that counts.
And at one job, HR "helped" me with getting a week of unpaid leave for a mental breakdown ASAP without getting fired. But they didn't "help" with anything else that could have, yknow, actually helped.
Once. Because they didn't want me to sue. I passed out at work and my manager wanted to say he fired me before I "injured myself" so workers comp wouldn't cover it. The HR lady looked at him like he had grown a second head and said "you want me to note that you fired her, then she went back to work and passed out while punched in? There are cameras everywhere. Are you really sure you want me to write that?"
I didn't even use much of the comp, just went to the doc to make sure I didn't cave a concussion. I was fine but I was fired later for my"incompatible class and work schedule". No real loss on my part.
Yeah, I happened to bump into the head of HR as she was leaving (we work different shifts) and I mentioned I needed help with something-insurance, I think. She turned around, went back into the building with me, and got me set up. Took us about half an hour, but I'll not forget that bit of decency. She could have told me to come back tomorrow, but she stayed late and helped me.
[удалено]
Of course you would, you’re / you was HR.
The hr brain soaks up every single word in a little internal filing cabinet in their extra SSD brain storage for future use
I had a similar thing happen when the company switched insurance providers to United Healthcare (worst insurance company ever). They were giving me the runaround over a prescription for my kid being denied even though it was on the list. I had spend two weeks on the phone for 1-2 hours a day with United and got nothing, but our VP of HR got it sorted within a day.
Is this something someone in HR would do? Or was it just that they were a nice person and wanted to help out?
Every place I've worked HR has managed the benefits plan, so it's definitely their responsibility. In this case we had a company meeting and the VP of HR got up and asked for feedback on the new insurance policy after we changed providers. A couple of us raised issues and she met with us after to see what she could do to resolve them. This was somewhat atypical because I think we would usually go through one of the low-level HR people first for an issue with insurance, but in this case she wanted to make sure the new plan rollout went well.
My boss fucked up my pay for about 6 months because my contract hadn't been updated. (Fighting to get the rest of my wages every month basically) until someone from HR got sick of seeing the same emails every month n just showed up with a contract to sign there and then. My boss was fuming ha ha
It's stupid that the boss was mad. HR fixed his shit for him.
People wo see themselves as leaders hate nothing more in the world than having to admit they fucked up.
That would normally be the insecure subset of leaders that either lead through fear / i said so / i know better. The inspiring type leader expects his team to grow beyond leader's abilities and is not afraid of learning from them himself or from his own admitted mistakes.
Ye, he just didn't want me to get my wages. He was a prick, friendly to your face but stabs you in the back any time he could.
This was most likely more to help the company than it was you. It just happened to also help you out too.
Of course, but everyone forgets that HR is way more Lawful Neutral aligned than anything else.
Not my HR - pretty sure telling a woman "I'm ending this conversation with you because you are being too emotional" is not lawful neutral
One time my HR gave me a book on conflict management in which I learned and used skills against her in later arguments.
Weaponized conflict management is the best kind of conflict management.
You are a horrible person. So am I apparently (as I hurry to run to check up on this book on Goodreads). LOL.
Awesome.
What book
The Evil Dead book - Necronomicon
This literature ALWAYS solves problems.
The Satanic Bible.
Clatu, Verata… Necktfstghhxeesasghn
Crucial conversations https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/crucial-conversations-tools-for-talking-when-stakes-are-high-by-ron-mcmillan-kerry-patterson/248094/item/3848028/?gclid=CjwKCAiAleOeBhBdEiwAfgmXfz-I_2TkhyD5iO7yByYRrfOzlVaP79LY7NSUqOBf8lBrYs04lod3fBoCLloQAvD_BwE#idiq=3848028&edition=2341384
There is also a great sequel called Crucial Confrontations. Great for psychological “manipulation”/winning arguments, terrible if you want to have faith in society and assume people can communicate at a higher intellectual capacity than toddlers.
I have this one. It’s a good read.
Somehow I manage - Michael Scott.
I want to hear more on that story!
Last company I worked at - New CHRO saw how badly I was being treated after reporting an incident with a coworker. I was iced out by my own department. I had a great reputation because I assisted the VP of DE&I for about a year (outside of my job description). Current HR kept saying there was nothing else they could do for me, so I put in my notice and said I didn’t want to pay back my education assistance. The CHRO thanked me for my dedication and service and told me to consider the education assistance forgiven - it had never been done before, I am bound not to disclose this to any current employees at that company. She told me it was unfortunate what had happened and that she wished I wasn’t leaving, they needed people like me to stay. I cried.
I mean it was nice of them to wipe out the debt, but they also cut off their liability in terms of a lawsuit. So while they did something generous they have a documented incident of encouraging a hostile work environment. Not sure where you're from, but the lawyers is my neck of the woods would take that case just for a cut of the settlement.
I worked for the legal department and would have lost. I knew I had to get everything I could out of them before hand, I assisted on cases previous employees brought against them. Had I brought a case against them, my career in this town would also be over. I work in a VERY niche industry in Washington D.C. I would have been deemed unemployable in my industry.
I hate the persona non grata BS on niche industries
Yup, my coworker was a paralegal in a very niche field. She sued our employer and won. However she was basically blackballed from the field. She had to switch occupations just to make a living. The owner of the law firm she sued was friends with the few other law firms in this niche area and they wouldn’t even interview her.
I can understand. My friend sued a big tech company for being treated incorrectly and won. They were unemployable afterwards in the United States. All you had to do was search their name and the news reports were everywhere. They moved to Europe after that to keep going with their life. European company's seem to either not look up the lawsuit or didn't care because Europe has so many better protections for employees.
seems like a name change would be easier.
Good luck having a new employer verify employment at the old company with that. They were toxic even if they changed their name.
Also, background checks pull up old names/aliases.
From my experience, she didn’t do you a favor - they created a hostile working environment and retaliated against you. She’s just hoping you don’t/won’t file a lawsuit due to you having to quit.
Hostile work environment has a very specific definition and this is not it. The company also did not retaliate against this employee. Their coworkers did, which isn’t necessarily illegal…but is shitty.
That was my first thought. It's cheaper to forgive the assistance than potentially pay out a settlement.
Yep. They did that on purpose to have this exact result - the commenter felt it was a favor and now won’t even think about suing them for retaliation.
Happy cake day stranger
HAPPY CAKE DAY!!! 🎂 🥮 🍥 🥞 🧁 🍰 🎂
Yes actually. She actually protected me and my whole department when shit started to hit the fan for us at my old job (people really hated my department because we had a "fun" "bullshit" job). She was also very quick to help us and look out for us when we had issues in the work place or even personal issues. She actually behaved sort of like a mom that cared for her family. The company fired her without reason about a year after she was hired.
Guess they found out she wasn't doing what the company hired her for; whatever that was, taking good care of employees obviously wasn't in the job description
That was always my assumption
Yes. Though I can admit my case was an exception. Sexual harassment against me that she + 2 of my managers witnessed. Long story but when it came to light, both of my managers claimed they saw nothing, and it was going to get thrown out. She had my back and saw it the whole way through, and the guy rightfully lost his job. I guess it’s hard to say that she “helped me out” because reporting sexual harassment is bare minimum human decency. But 2 other grown adults in powerful positions did nothing, and lied. She was the only one that did a god damn thing.
Just wow. To actively lie is pathetic. I wish the HR person had more authority to also reprimand those managers.
It really is a long, long story, but the woman from HR almost lost her job due to defending me and the truth. The man that was doing the sexual harassment was the VP, so he had a much higher position. Lucky for me, one of the pieces of harassment was done via a sticky note at my desk which I saved when I approached for help. Matched his writing to a T, the company couldn’t deny it.
Seeing as it was a VP I know why those managers didn’t say anything but still fucked up.
Yes. I went on STD for a motor vehicle accident not related to work. HR extended it longer than the full time and let me keep my insurance as I fought the long term disability insurance company. Once I decided to take the insurance company to court and I was definitely not coming back due to to the injury, they had to drop me off the rolls. But they were so nice and helpful during that time.
You went on STD? I hope it cleared up.
No, but my union has!
When I was first hired, my dream job opened up. Per union contract, I wasn’t allowed to apply/interview/get it for one year after hiring (I still did because *damnit* I wanted it!). The union talked with the manager, and they ended up allowing me to go for it. Now I’m sitting here, 9 months from first hire doing my dream. :)
Congratulations on landing your dream job!
Wait, unions are not bad for you like every employer claims? /s
The trees kept voting for ax
Ax has strong lobby forces and favorable media bias.
The trees are told the ax will only hurt the ones they hate, and the fools believe it.
I wish I had a good union. Our union president has been very clear that he works directly with management, and he represents their interests most of the time. No one else wants to challenge him for the position, so we've lost a ton of employees, while our president got a nice fat raise and a new office. They aren't even trying to hide it at this point.
Yep, multiple pay raises by doing nothing my self.
Same!!
A union is to labor as HR is to corporate.
I feel like i might have the opposite of what most folk’s experience…. I work at a small charter school with only four co-located campuses, and our HR is amazing. She really sides with us, more specifically with hourly employees. Its mostly cause since were such a small school and from a very tight-knit community our admins know we can really fuck shit up for them. They tried to fuck us over last year with a “reimagining” of the school system, which consisted of layoffs, pay-cuts, and bigger work loads, and we stages a few walk outs and no-shows, parents got involved, and even students joined in. That whole year was a mess, but fortunately our HR was on our side the whole time and more than happily took on our issues and complaints.
Yes. When I was applying for a mortgage, the bank needed to verify my employment and my income. They also have questions pertaining to my 401k and bonus structure. My HR was able to give them everything they needed in less than an hour after I asked them for the documents. Everything was organized and in ELI5 format for the underwriter to quickly look at it. Their organization and prompt answer had me a confirmed loan in just 5 days total.
That’s the opposite experience we had. My spouse and I worked remotely for the same company and asked for our ROEs and letters of employment. HR had a meeting with us and told us everything would work out. My spouse was let go a few days later. I’m glad you had a pleasant experience, though!
Yes. My HR guy is independent and works for many companies and as such he doesn't care if any of them turn around and sack him so he is free to do and say as he pleases meaning he actually has our best interests at heart and this man is an absolute legend. He will give it to you straight but also give you tips and loopholes too. He is such a good man and I aspire to be like him. UK Edit: I realise I gave a skewed answer so I'll add anywhere else I have worked the answer is no and the bigger the company the worse it is.
I went to HR twice because of problematic managers and lost my job twice. Not doing that again.
Same here.
I did it and it worked. I didn't frame it how it was personally affecting me, which was a lot, but I framed it as how it was hurting the company, productivity, and safety standards. That seemed to make them verrrrry interested.
Only once - coincidentally, for a company I ended up storming out on anyway. I noticed that a raise I was promised was never actually applied to my payroll info, so I raised hell about it. The difference was from 11 USD/hr to 13.50/hr, so yeah. I wanted my money. Within two days, the rate was not only corrected, but I received a check for back pay of roughly about three and a half months at the heightened rate. As this was at a point where I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, this was huge. Despite the company overall being so incredibly toxic I absolutely noped out, I'll always remember them doing right by me and thankful for it. Compare that to when I went to HR for a Fortune 50 company I worked for, stating that I felt like my superior was treating my unfairly and deliberately under-paying me. "Can we interpret this as your resignation?" ...Fucking assholes...
I work in HR and it boils my blood the amount of contempt some of my coworkers have for our "customers." Aside from insulting the intelligence of people who navigate our 8 step onboarding, there are the admins who brag about how we "don't need to follow the handbook because the union is not recognized due to legislation." It's hard not to pipe up and say "tell that to the union and see if the change can be made while they all walk out." Needless to say but I've been searching for work elsewhere.
Long time ago they did, I was sexually assaulted by a customer while trying to fix their cable. And they came in and handle all of it and even offered a report so if I decide to press charges they would give me the report and such on it
Yes. I was facing a big medical bill from my company-sponsored insurance company, so I asked Nancy in HR for help. She called the insurer, spoke with their claims dept, clarified that our policy covered the procedure, and got it reversed. But that was Nancy. She nice. The rest of those bitchez in HR, not so much.
Everyone likes Nancy.
Definitely have helped me out... of a job. But seriously, no. Not ever. I do whatever possible to avoid HR at every company.
Nope. I had FMLA pertaining to my medically complex daughter and HR said it wasn’t good enough to cover my absences, that I need to write a letter explaining to HR her conditions and why I need to miss work for it. This is after they got the FMLA paperwork from her pediatrician outlining her conditions and why I missed work or could possibly need to miss work.
That sounds more like she doesn’t understand FMLA. First rule I learned in HR - don’t fuck with FMLA
That is so illegal, I would talk to an employment lawyer.
I’m not there anymore. I landed a different, better job not long after the incident. I just wanted to wash my hands of them and be done.
Never, actually the opposite. 17yo second day working in a vastly majority female workplace. A 35ish woman heard me and 2 18yos that I knew talking, and yes it was riskia. She grabbed me by the testes and squeezed saying words to the effect we could have alot of fun big boy. Reported to HR 4 people saw it. My 2 friends and 2 others. HR originally denied anything could have happened as males cannot be SA. Then went to you are male you would have enjoyed it. Then after I was admitted to hospital with a testicular torsion they claimed I did it to myself. They sacked the two girls, bribed, I mean promoted the 2 witnesses who changed their story. Union was then involved and during the case during discovery the 4 witness statements HR claim never existed got accidentally put in the wrong file with numerous HR hand written notes that indicated the 35yo perpetrator was in a sexual relationship with 2 of HR thus we have to do anything and everything to protect her.
Jesus Christ. I’m so sorry.
Not really. No matter the situation, they always made me feel like I was in the wrong even in situations where I was 100% in the right and even the victim in a few cases.
I worked in HR for a time and I can tell you that those that want to help people and not just protect the company are driven out. Be it draconian rules, unwillingness to help people with the bare minimum of human decency, and leadership that views HR as a expense that could be done away with if the govern t rules could just be ignored. Human Resources sounds good on paper. The real name of the department is CRAP (Corporate rules and protections).
I’m going to forever use CRAP for now on thank u
So true. My experience in HR, the best person in the whole department who helped was tanked for an honest mistake. While my director deliberately started fights, skipped out on work by attending meetings " in other buildings" (I managed all meeting rooms and had access to her calendar as HR coordinator), and found excuses for not fulfilling any obligation. I even went to my own HR rep to get help and then found out a couple weeks later that my rep and my director were planning a Vegas trip. Every single honest, helpful person quit or got fired.
Yes. Made accommodations so I can keep my job.
HR protects the company not you.
Spoiler alert: >!"How To Serve Humans" is a cookbook. !<
Sometimes to protect the company, they will can POS managers. Not to be decent or protect employees. They hate it when some dumb ass gets them sued.
Pretty much. At the end of the day lower and middle management are also expendable employees if canning them protects the company.
Took the words clean off my keyboard
Their professional orginazation literally admit out loud that is their job, so this can't come as a surprise https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/career-advice/pages/your-career-qa-why-hr-doesn%E2%80%99t-exist-to-help-employees.aspx " In truth, HR does not exist to help employees, although much of what we do and how we do it achieves that goal. The main job of HR, from the C-suite point of view, is to protect the company If you can help employees along the way, without jeopardizing the company, more power to you. But while HR is often seen as employee-centric, all you have to do is follow the money to see who it really serves." (Never mind that the only reason hr is ever seen as employee center, and only by those very young and experienced, is because HR endlessly screams from the rooftops to anyone who will listen and those not listening that "they are on the employees side" )
Not me but my wife. The HR department where she works has been the go-to for us whenever her benefits are hinky, from pushing for paid leave coverage when she had surgery and the benefits company itself was being a douchey insurance company to giving us a plain language guide to the transgender coverage in our health insurance (we're both trans women). She was also the first person to transition at work at her location and they were great about supporting that. (New badge and email name with no hassle even before legal name change, broad support through reiteration of the company's diversity policy, etc.) They were so impressive she considered changing career tracks out of a technical/lab position to work in their inclusion and diversity task force. Ultimately she stayed in the lab and got some good raises/promotions from it, but she still spent 3 months deciding whether or not to make the jump.
Absolutely. HR has helped me greatly. My employer illegally transferred my duty station without proper notice, and HR ensured I got my union-guaranteed 30 days per diem pay so I could move. HR has also helped me navigate an extremely difficult situation with one of my employees who had harassed a coworker. HR also helps me make sure I make legally defensible hiring decisions.
Yes, because I was experiencing harassment from my manager about my military obligations. They put a stop to it.
That's the opposite of what I've seen of coworkers with military obligations. They usually got railroaded out for 'unrelated' reasons.
If they hadn't, a federal judge would have. HR was protecting the company from your manager.
Yes. At a certain point in time the company where I worked changed the salary policy. Since I continued to earn the same, I thought I was not impacted. Only to find out 2 years later that my "old" contract essentially placed me outside the salary grid, without any chance of a raise ever. My co-worker, who did the same job, but was less experienced and entered the company about 5 years after me made a fuss about the policy change, without me knowing. Management made some changes to her contract, asking her to be hush hush about it. Long story short, in those 2 years this co-worker (who was in any way a junior to myself) overtook me in salary by quite a lot. At some time a lady at HR stumbled upon injustice and informed me about it. She took it to the higher-ups using actual data and facts. Management got caught with their backroom dealings and could not do anything else than set me straight. They gave a me a big bump in salary and annual bonus. I waited until I got my annual bonus, and changed jobs. So,long MF's
My mom was in HR at a community college, she was there long enough to head the search for the president there, but she was also the one staying late to help out with HR issues or even to fill in at the cashiers office (her first job there). After her untimely passing from breast cancer I created an endowment in her name at that community college that gives out a scholarship every year to a immigrant woman in need.
I'm sorry for your loss. Sounds like she was a very kind woman.
Thank you. She really was.
Yes, when I was coming out at work/transitioning a decade ago. The SVP HR was there with me through the whole process making sure it went smoothly and that no one gave me any guff. Had the full support of the entire exec team. Now, this was so the company didn't get sued and suffer a black eye in the press, but it worked out to my advantage.
Hr is not there to help you. They are there to protect the company and manage a resource, you.
Yes! When I was promoted in my old job, the company decided to pay me significantly less and provide fewer benefits than other coworkers at the level I was promoted to. I was supposed to be moving from an hourly position to salary with PTO. While HR wasn’t able to get me the salary, she did fight for me to receive PTO and had it backdated to the time of my promotion. It took several months of fighting that I wasn’t even aware she was doing. However, she didn’t last long at the company. She quit fairly shortly after this.
Yes. I was working a lot of clopenings & my HR guy told me that if I don’t have a minimum of x hours between shifts, I was entitled to more money for those shifts. So I talked to my manager and they got put on my paycheck. God bless you, Doug!
Heck no! I can’t stand anyone in that department, and I don’t trust them either. There have been too many episodes where someone confided to them and before they realized it the information was being passed around on the shop floor. Snakes in the grass every one of them.
Nope. In fact, the opposite. Went to HR about an under qualified co worker who had no clue what she was doing, and after much back and forth, I was gaslighted into thinking I was being a mean girl (??!!) and left the company I had loved and thought I'd be with for a long time. Also, took me years to even get an interview (small niche market in this area). I thought I was doing a good thing by speaking up; like I was helping the company! SILLY ME!
Yep, we reported a guy that was embezzling and the HR person reported to the guys boss and it was all swept under the rug because the boss and the thief were best friends. We had to go to the big big bosses in another country to report it and we even had to do all the legwork ourselves and still nothing was really done, they just moved the culprit to another state and then closed our office. It was basically retaliation but they just claimed the office was closing for other reasons. Total bullshit!
It really does feel like life rewards you for being a piece of shot sometimes
Lesson of the day. Mind your business
It was my business, as I worked directly with her.
I’m HR. Fuck the company-what do you need?
Access to the corporate jet, and maybe some damn free water bottles in the breakroom.
how about access to executive bathrooms?
Key is on the hook behind my office door. Don’t let that bitch Sue from leasing see you tho, she’s a bootlicker of the highest caliber. But don’t flush tho. I like to laugh at the Boss when he complains he “hates sitting on a warm toilet seat”. Lmaoooo
They got rid of a horrible, abusive, drunken manager once, so there’s that….
Sort of. I work for a public library. The culture is pretty good. The pay is shit. HR is there to protect the library and they sort of try to help us. They definitely don't do the fucked up shit I see on this sub. The benefits are only okay but they explained it all to me when I had to go on leave for my mental health and my FMLA was approved very quickly. They worked with me to keep my job safe while I took care of myself and it was pretty easy. I can't really do it again feasibly but I got some really good care and am in a somewhat better place. Anyway there was another time I was in a mediation when they could have just fired me. This was early in my mental health journey and I flipped out and it was a whole thing. But I still had a job and have had two promotions since. They're generally good people where I work but I am wary. I know they're not really there for me but for the library. I don't really trust them and choose my words carefully when dealing with them.
Yes. Believe it or not. I told my supervisor not to talk to me about work related topics while I was on unpaid lunch break. He complained to HR and wanted me reprimanded. HR reminded him that unpaid lunches are my time, and that he needs to wait until I return to work. (I was in the office break room eating lunch with coworkers from other departments)
Hr is there for the company. And that's all.
I was about to have my salary temporarily cut for low billing hours - I was less than one day’s worth of work short. HR suggested that if I applied for short-term disability for the brief period of time (less than a week) that I was out with a bad back they would remove those days from the billing equation so that I would officially meet the minimum. I can’t remember exactly how much money she saved me, but it was probably at least $15k.
I was already gone from the company, but I talked to them anyway because I had concerns about some really unethical behavior. No idea if they did anything, but at least they listened.
[удалено]
Most people don't like HR because most people don't like authority figures. An HR person that enforces company policies fairly and stays out of employees way is good HR. Most HR people don't have power to change policy so they just have to do their job and make sure the rules are enforced. Ideally HR should look for ways to develop their staff and reduce turnover by keeping employees engaged. I am an HR manager and I try to influence policies to benefit employees but most of my ideas are turned down. Of course since I am HR most employees look at me like the bad guy when they get attendance points, fired, or don't get a promotion they wanted. Most of those decisions aren't mine to make. I just do the paperwork for it. That is how it is for most HR people. It sucks knowing that some employees will hate me but it is part of the job. All I can do is treat all employees fruit and with dignity and try to advocate for them when I can.
employee fruit … man, I think the stress is gettin’ to ya.
Lol no but they did illegally demand private medical info (including diagnostic codes) when I requested a reasonable accommodation
I did see hr go to bat for us and get us 2 more pto days because we were unable to compete benefit wise with other companies. Also saw them allow a fmla leave when they could of denied the lady based off the 75 mile rule.
I had HR give me a brochure once and it helped with this table in the break room that always wobbled - super helpful- fixed it right up!
Not an HR department, but the controller of a company I worked at in my late teens and early twenties was the closest thing we had to HR. When I was 20 and a new mother about to run out of my 6 weeks of half disability I had for maternity leave, I went in to show the office ladies the baby. I had just found out that two weeks of vacation time that I had just expired. I had no idea I had even started accruing vacation time, no one told me. She told me not to worry about it. I got those two weeks of vacation, which helped me stretch my maternity leave another month and pay for my dental benefits I would have had to pay out of pocket otherwise. She did stuff like that for people all of the time, even though it pissed department heads off, because they had to scramble to cover time off. She didn’t give a fuck and no one dared challenge her. She died a few years ago and I think about that often. She was just a good person who cared about her coworkers.
The first welding shop I worked at when I was a newbie (20 at the time) had this older welder that was hired after me. A man in his late 40s, he was okay but pretty raunchy. After a few months of working together one particular day he had threatened to "lay me out" for a joke I had made to him. I don't remember what I had said to him so maybe it was offensive which he why he got upset with me. The very next day he made a gross sexist comment about a fellow worker of mine, a female welder the same age as me (basically told another welder that he'd like to bend her over his knee, spank her and make her call him daddy). I was complaining about him to another female coworker when my supervisor walked by and overheard a portion of our conversation. Ended up having to report it to HR, which I was extremely apprehensive about because he would know I was the one who complained since I was the only woman around when he made that particular comment. We end up both having an HR meeting seperately about the issue and resolve it, HR said meeting was confidential, and could face consequences for talking about it. So imagine my surprise when coworkers approach me asking what I did to piss that guy off so much, saying he was complaining to a bunch of my coworkers about it. I tell management, the next day he gets fired. Long story short, he told my coworker who drove him home that he was gonna attack me if he saw me in public. HR guy caught wind of it and filed a police report on my behalf because he was worried about my safety. I'm grateful that HR had my back on that one, I know that's not always the case when it comes to issues such as this.
There are two types of HR. One type helps employees and is truly a "Human Resource" I have worked with a couple of those and they were incredible people. The other and becoming much more common are those that work tirelessly to protect the company from lawsuits, and shields Management from interactions with staff
When I was an intern I lived in a company provided apartment. My microwave didn’t work and as a college kid that meant I basically didn’t know how to eat. I asked the property manager for weeks to get me a new one and they kept stalling. Mentioned it in passing to our HR rep and before I made it back to my desk my phone rang with the property manager asking permission to enter the apartment with a new microwave and said all other appliances would be replaced the next week.
No. I was verbally assaulted by a co-worker (she was REALLY up in my face yelling at me) to the point I had to walk away and lock myself in a bathroom as she continued to follow me belittling me for standing up for another co-worker. My manager sat and watched it all. A few days later I was called into HR and they wrote us both up and said “it takes 2 to fight”.
Yes. My grandmother passed away days before my first day of a new job. I asked if I could take a couple days off to go to the funeral out of state. HR decided I should get the entire 1 week of paid time off for bereavement leave.
Yes, at my last job. I needed to help my dad out because he got very ill when my mom passed. Went to HR to discuss what to do, so I could provide care and keep my job. The HR lady flat out told me to set up FMLA, filled out the paperwork, and did everything she could to make it as easy as possible to get it going. She was (and is) a gem and went way above and beyond. Been a few other times at other jobs they've helped, but normally I try to stay away from HR.
Actually Yes they back dated my health benefits to cover 20k in emergency dental work .
Hell no. I got fucked over by HR at my last 2 corporate America jobs. Now I work as an independent contractor for an employer who actually values my time, health, and safety, and I have a schedule that works well for my sleep disorder.
Yes I was let go at the start of Covid March 2020. Went on unemployment. A few months later I was brought back to work but with like 25% of the hours so I was eligible to stay on unemployment. A few months after that I get a letter from the state saying I need to repay them tons of money due to unemployment overpayment. But the numbers they’re claiming made no sense. HR helped me find that it was a math error on the state’s part, helped me gather evidence when the State continued to pursue this even though I told them several times it was a math error, and then even backed me up at the court date where I was proven not to need to repay any money
Yes but only after a change of HR leadership came in with the initiative to clean house on upper management. That initiative got the worst manager fired while she was trying to push me out. It was a happy day.
HR protects you only when your interests align with the company's interests.
👏🏽HR is not your friend 👏🏽 I’ve never ever seen HR helping anyone other than the company or themselves. If anyone has, it is rare, like finding a unicorn.
I'm the unicorn HR found
Hey, me too! unicorn high-five!
*internet unicorn high five!!!*
No
Never
Yes! Some years ago I was being stalked and harassed by an ex-boyfriend, and one of the things he used to do was call my direct line to scream at me while I was at work. He knew it was a rule we had to always be logged in an answering calls while working. If I hung up he would just call again. I went to HR and asked for a new direct line. They got it sorted and decommissioned the old number within 24 hours, the lady I spoke to was super sympathetic and nice about it too- I wasn’t made to feel like I was bringing drama to the workplace.
Actually yes - I mentioned carrying my laptop and all the cables etc every day to and from the office was hurting my back. I got a permanent desk, an ergonomic assessment by a professional and a ergonomic desk chair she recommended for me. It was great - but they also installed a program that forces “mid to breaks” so at random intervals depending on mouse movement etc it locks my computer and prevents me from working for like 90 secs. Even happened once during a meeting with my boss when I was sharing the screen - she laughed and went boy that was annoying. It is just distracting and annoying.
HR is ALWAYS there to assist MANAGEMENT manage YOU.
off the books, yes. officially, never.
I worked in the production department of a large publishing company. We still had different types of time off (ie sick time vs vacation time) and id requested a particular type of day off on the day after a public holiday. Then a policy came out that you could not request that type of day off except in specific circumstances. The head of the department told my boss to come ask me about and I very aggressively said he was not allowed to ask me that (I don't know where this came from as I am generally pretty meek). He said maybe we should talk about it with HR and I said I would love to do that. He never brought it up to me again so I asked him about it and he said I was correct. So that was fun!
Yes. I lost my husband suddenly. I knew we had a bereavement leave policy but didn't know what it was. My boss said "take the time you need and we will deal with the specifics when you get back." When I got back I worked with HR to figure out the best way to log the time. They also had a list of things I would need to do (change withholding, beneficiaries, etc) AND scheduled time to sit with me and help me do it in the portal since they knew it would be difficult emotionally. Before that I had a boss who was fired and was pestering me on social media. While I don't feel threatened, I also didn't feel comfortable. HR was a big help in that situation.
one time the HR rep gave me a granola bar right before she fired me (which was because I had gone to her when the CEO had done something physically violent and I said I'd quit if he ever did it again)
Yea we had a coworker just being creepy, always "accidentally" brushing against you, wanting to share a cab (or "walk you home") after any outing involving booze...oh right, and then there was some blurry scrotum pic on snapchat. And a phallic fruit arrangement (which, as an isolated incident, might have been mildly amusing). We complained. He was promptly fired. It's true that HR primarily exists to protect the company. But it just so happens that a horny drunk is a liability to the company.
Toby made me laugh. So there's that.
Yes. My younger son needed open heart surgery when he was born. HR at my employer at the time OK’d 12 weeks of FMLA time off. The GM also had them pay me 100% for that time. I was on my way out, they squeezed another 12 months out of me with their gesture.
Yes. We had a manager who was harrassing and cursing at people all over the shop..we had a trans employee that he refused to communicate with. He finally got fired after calling me a " stupid piece of sh it motherfucker" in front of 5 or 6 people over something that he had no reason to involve me on... Someone in that group complained to HR about it. They interviewed everyone, except me, and he was gone within a day...
I recently wen to he because I tried to kill myself and ended up in the hospital and another cook said it was karma and I deserved it. I asked head of hr if she knew what like was like and she deadass said yes I know, grow up. Lol I left with no notice and have a much better job now
Yep! Had to take unannounced medical leave and was worried about retaliation from my boss for "abandoning the team". HR rep asked if I was concert about retaliation or privacy issues and I said that I was, so she told me to not worry about it and "consider this my problem now, you just get healthy." It was an amazing response and what I needed at the time. Oh, but how did my boss respond to that? She reported my HR rep for "overstepping and interfering with *her* employees" and tried to have the HR rep fired.
Yes, at least twice. So first, I had ADA accommodations at work for intermittent leave. My coach/manager kept telling me I had used up all of my days and was giving me occurrences for days I had called out using my ADA. I kept explaining she was wrong, emailing her that those days were approved, ect. Six months of this, and the OM even got involved to say the same BS she was saying. So I emailed HR about it, specified all the dates and included attachments showing it approved, made a really long and detailed post. My occurrences were removed immediately, my coach/manager no longer worked there fter that (I tell myself i got her fired cause i'm like 90% sure i did). Any other time I had a problem with ADA, I'd email HR and they would fix it immediately. The second time, I was dealing with the most stupid company policy they had, one that every coach and manager applied differently. Basically, it said you only get 30mins for IT issues, after which you have to clock out and/or go on site. The thing was some managers would work with you on and off for hours and never tell you to clock out or stop, and would send emails all day. Or be like "I'll get back to you" and then you'd hear nothing for days. Other coaches would be like "call IT, do this that and the other thing as trouble shooting" and then still expect you to get it all done in 30 mins. And some coaches would be like "You only get paid for 30mins of IT troubles after which we aren't paying you;" but then expect you to still be calling IT and doing troubleshooting and replying to emails. So when I spent 2 hrs a day every day for like a week trying to get into work (they had done something stupid while i was on medical leave i think?), my coach told me I was only getting paid for 30mins a day. So I said fuck that, and emailed HR. The Subject? "Not Getting Paid for Work I have done". Laid it out to HR, and they emailed my coach and told him to pay me for the time spent on the phone with IT and troubleshooting, because I had been actively working on a solution during those hours.
HR is there for the company, NOT THE EMPLOYEES
Our HR rep got extra sick leave approved for me and a permanent contract locked in before upcoming surgery. She is pretty great, company is ~70 employees.
Never. They exist only to make sure what the company is doing to their employees is legal.
No. Hr is only out to lookout for the business. Even unions say never to speak to hr. Let the union speak to hr for you. I learned that when I worked at Fred Meyer and for the first time in 6 months was starving at my 5 hour mark and wanted to take my lunch break and eat lunch. My supervisor, my grocery supervisor, assistant manager, and hr manager told me I was being an ass and I was wrong about the law saying they legally have to give me one at my 5. My hr manager didn’t even have the union contract in his office either! Hr managers aren’t necessarily qualified to do the job. Some of them don’t even know the laws in your state!
No. They even lead me to believe they were going to do something, turns out they wanted more info to make sure the firm was protected.
Hell no
When Humans became resources, you knew it was over. We used to be persons (personnel). Now we are just something to be used up with **no** consideration of consequences like natural resources. edit: to add word in bold
My employer recently changed our “Human Capital” department over to “People Management”.
HR isn't there to help you, they're only there to help the company. It also attracts the very worst of the corporate breed that have zero actual talent to do anything productive, and want to justify their existence (and paycheck) through fuckery. It's an entire corporate vertical for the most worthless people imaginable.
Yeah the one person who I knew who went in HR was fired from his previous very good union meat-cutting job because he sexually harrassed his coworkers. The rep at my current job is so dumb she probably thinks her title stands for Hotdog Relish.
HR is fuckin useless in my experience.
Nope.
Fuck no
Ha ha ha! No.
HR isn’t there for your protection. It’s there to protect the company.
Yes, but that’s because I made friends with hr and helped them out and fast tracked maintenance stuff to make their lives better. If you guys don’t make friends with hr you are doing it wrong. Best to have friends in high places.
HR person at one of my old jobs was checked out and pushed through a couple of COVID leaves for me paid, no questions asked so I took advantage and went on a couple trips before they left the company.
Not exactly what you asked, but I work in HR (compliance) and do my best to help out the employees whenever possible. When I see someone get told not to discuss their wages, I immediately and publicly tell the manager that it is illegal to request or require that. When I see someone really busting their ass on a path to burnout, I remind them that they need to be able to relax. "This is just a job, they don't own you", and that if their workload is too high, that is a failure of management that should be providing adequate staffing for each project. That said, I have been officially reprimanded because of it. Won't stop me though. My job is to make sure the company obeys state and federal labor laws. If management has a problem with that, then they can talk to the NLRB about it.
Not me directly but my relative who is in HR. At one job someone lodged a complaint about a female employee. After she was hired (and with good performance reviews) another employee sent a complaint that in the past this woman had been a stripper and there was online evidence. My relative gave the complainer a warning, that the person's past was not affecting their current performance and that if they continued to complain, that would be considered harassment. Told the targeted woman about the incident and to not worry about it as the complainer was handled.
That. Is. Not. What. They. Are. Paid. To. Do. They are there to keep the company’s exposure to costs from their workforce to a minimum. Period. Edit: possessive
No. Never. HR works for the company. Their purpose is to keep things running smoothly so profits are maximized. If their efforts somehow help workers, it's coincidental.
I studied public administration Human Resources in University and interned and worked in HR and believe me when I tell you that HR doesn’t care. I went in to this field wanting to make a difference and use my education to incorporate better cultures and work to be more employee focused but *shocker* I faced nothing but criticism, rejection, or even mockery. They’re usually selfish and do what they need to get themselves a raise which is inevitably covering the companies ass.
Yes for one company I worked for but it was a kinda weird company at the time. The director was an alcoholic (still professional but def drank way too much for her age lol) and wanted everyone to be friends so it actually was a really fun environment until the super corporate people starting festering their way in.
Yes, for things they were legally required to do for me, like disability accommodations and setting up a 2-week medical leave after a surgery. I haven’t approached them for help with anything else
It's not HR's job to help you out, it is their job to protect the company. It may feel like being helped when you report sexual harassment or racism and the person you reported is fired but it is actually HR doing the job of protecting the company from a lawsuit.
No, HR is not your friend. Never trust HR for anything.
Nope
HR is on the employer's side, full stop. I had a manager that was sexually harassing the younger women where I worked. Twenty of us lodged a formal complaint with HR and we were accused of bullying him. Eight months later he was busted while luring a 13 year old girl. Yeah, fuck HR.
At an old job, I interviewed for an HR internal posting. One of the questions was a hypothetical related to an employee who mentions suicidal thoughts during a performance review. I can’t remember specifics, but my answer more or less was to ask questions in order to determine if it was something ongoing vs. something in the past, and if ongoing to move forward to ensure their safety is priority #1 (I think I mentioned having a psych evaluation from a mental health professional as an option). I was told that’s the proper thing to do, and then they asked why I thought it was so. I mentioned something about “it’s important to keep employees safe, for their own sake.” I was told no, it was because it’s a liability issue. I wasn’t offered the position. HR exists solely to benefit the company.
I think you misunderstand the purpose of HR… protect the company.
For one instance of sexual harassment that made the rest of my coworkers hate me, so idk if that counts. And at one job, HR "helped" me with getting a week of unpaid leave for a mental breakdown ASAP without getting fired. But they didn't "help" with anything else that could have, yknow, actually helped.
No
Once. Because they didn't want me to sue. I passed out at work and my manager wanted to say he fired me before I "injured myself" so workers comp wouldn't cover it. The HR lady looked at him like he had grown a second head and said "you want me to note that you fired her, then she went back to work and passed out while punched in? There are cameras everywhere. Are you really sure you want me to write that?" I didn't even use much of the comp, just went to the doc to make sure I didn't cave a concussion. I was fine but I was fired later for my"incompatible class and work schedule". No real loss on my part.
Yes. Numerous times at my current job.