The HR department is a mystery to us all

[u/SipsTeaFrog]

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[u/Raaxis]

If you don’t have an HR department, you’d better have a very well-paid legal department.

[u/Stalker401 → u/Raaxis]

My company just made a lawyer head of our HR

[u/sat_ops → u/Stalker401]

Better than when I had to babysit our HR VP after our SIXTH retaliation claim of the year a couple of years ago. "No, you can't fire the guy who has an open claim for discrimination against his supervisor just because the same supervisor says he's 'causing trouble'. Yes, he was late yesterday, as was EVERY employee who commutes from the South because the interstate was closed due to an accident, myself included."

[u/Striking_Part_7234 → u/sat_ops]

Yeah people really underestimate how stupid the C-suit of every company is.

[u/Vyansbane → u/Striking_Part_7234]

My current company is great, prior to this though I worked at one with about 50 folks where the CEO essentially used it like his own piggy bank. He was book smart as hell, had no common sense, and was maaaaaaassively entitled. He would do some dumb shit like this.

[u/10000Didgeridoos → u/Vyansbane]

Sounds like the place my friend worked at where the president had staff go to his house to move his furniture. Like office job staff used as personal movers

[u/1skcusemanresu → u/10000Didgeridoos]

I worked in a factory where we would have to do different things at the owner’s house depending on the season, put up Christmas lights in the winter, put away lawn chairs and what not in the summer, etc. It all ended when one of the younger guys hooked up with the owners wife. He obviously lost his job but he went out a legend lol

[u/CALIFORNIUMMAN → u/1skcusemanresu]

The equivalent of sleeping with the general's daughter after the Marine Corps Ball. 🫡

[u/Mirage84 → u/1skcusemanresu]

Absolutely worth it imo

[u/mksmith95 → u/10000Didgeridoos]

UMM… WTF!!!!! That’s insane. Literally used his sway over them bc they feared being fired if they didn’t help him…. Villainous moves fr.

[u/Smokejumper_beats → u/mksmith95]

Rich ppl don’t like spending their own money lol they are all cheap af and stingy as all hell

[u/Specialist-Avocado36 → u/Striking_Part_7234]

As someone in Corp Security who regularly provides EP for our C-Suite this is absolutely true.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/Striking_Part_7234]

As someone in HR, can confirm. Your dumbest co-worker who you are shocked can tie his shoes? There are plenty of them in leadership positions too.

HR is the face of bad news, but behind the scenes I guarantee you we are stopping insane things from happening.

[u/TheophilusOmega → u/Majestic-Two3474]

I 100% get what you are saying, but there's definitely a part of me that's thinking why do we shield the dipshits?

[u/Rainglove → u/TheophilusOmega]

There's a level you can reach where you're effectively immune to consequences because you're irreplaceable and a fair amount of higher management is up there. This can be doctors with very specific specialties, engineers who have worked very closely with a process for a very long time, IT staff who built out critical infrastructure.

Theoretically you could fire that IT manager who keeps forgetting to approve timesheets, but you're going to get locked out of a bunch of systems and potentially shut down part of the company while the entire rest of the IT department runs damage control. My org works with some doctors who have huge control over their employment contracts just because if they leave we'll have to stop offering the service they provide and we'll never find a replacement.

[u/VintAge6791 → u/Rainglove]

It's funny how Mutually Assured Destruction is the name of the game now for expert skilled labor. But sad. But funny.

[u/_learned_foot_ → u/VintAge6791]

It's actually how equals negotiate. They all recognize they can walk way and be fine, so it's about how much somebody wants to give to get resources they prefer not having to worry about.

[u/VintAge6791 → u/_learned_foot_]

You're right. I guess Mutually Assured Convenience is closer to the mark.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/TheophilusOmega]

In my role, I “shield” the dipshits in order to protect the employees. Sure, I could let the dipshits do whatever they want and let them be exposed as dipshits…but in the meantime, their employees would be directly and negatively impacted and would then have to fight to be made whole again, assuming that was even possible.

I’ll also say that someone may be a dipshit at managing people and HR but exceptional at their field of expertise, particularly in technical fields.

[u/2oothDK → u/Majestic-Two3474]

As an employment lawyer I have seen this a lot! Manager is in position because they were great at their skill, not great at management. Moreover, when they are put into management positions they are often not given any training about being a manager, so they really don’t know what they are doing. And now instead of having a crush on a co-employee, all of the sudden their crush is on a subordinate and against company policy and potentially against the law.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/2oothDK]

Yeah, the entire system is flawed - people become managers because it’s the only way to move up, not because they are good at (or should be) managing employees or teams

[u/Olelander → u/Majestic-Two3474]

I’m a director of a non-profit program that hires a lot of “entering the workforce” people, with a pretty predictable level of turnover for the hard, underfunded work we do. We have HR, and I am often involved in the conversations around performance for awareness, due to my role. It’s almost always HR saving the employee from being fired and rarely HR pushing to see someone let go. Our HR director is constantly holding people back from firing staff they think are “causing trouble”.

We’re in a constant battle of educating the employees who supervise other employees on how to embody their role as supervisors fairly and reasonably and make fair, legal and appropriate supervisory decisions. The current HR director has done wonders getting our org on the same page and applying our policies, hiring and termination practices consistently across a diverse organization spread throughout a geographically regional service area.

I’m sure there are valid reasons for the shit Reddit likes to talk about HR, but my experience does not align with the zeitgeist on this at all. HR seems to be constantly holding back the crazy from happening, and I’m grateful for that.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/Olelander]

Much as employees hate HR, in my experience few hate us as much as the managers we keep from immediately firing employees they don’t want to deal with 😂

[u/whorehey-degooseman → u/TheophilusOmega]

definitely a part of me that's thinking why do we shield the dipshits?

if by "we" you mean the company: to keep their money.

if by "we" you mean the people who have no power to do anything to "the dipshits": ???

[u/Mayors_purple_shorts → u/Majestic-Two3474]

So much this. My position is essentially an assistant manager type position. People need to understand HR is NOT there for you. HR is there to protect the company. HR is a necessary evil in my opinion, especially in unionized careers. The employee uses their labour relations officer from the union, the company uses the HR department. HR steps in in cases of incompetency, harassment, inappropriate behaviour etc. Is HR usually fun? No. Necessary? Absofuckinglutely.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/Mayors_purple_shorts]

What I think people miss too is that sometimes protecting the company is synonymous with protecting employees. Employees are often not experts in labour law - including management. HR makes sure the laws are followed (if they are in fact doing their jobs)

It sounds like a lot of people simply have bad HR teams in their companies 😂

[u/BrofessorLongPhD → u/Majestic-Two3474]

And sometimes we hear from people who aren’t exactly model employees, so of course HR is even worse since they have to deal with them and possibly fairly often. I’ve been at my current company 8 years and have legit chatted with HR like 3 times ever. It follows the same courtesy rule you should give IT, treat them nicely and show base-level respect and they’ll often be pleasant instead of on edge and combative.

[u/Majestic-Two3474 → u/BrofessorLongPhD]

Yup - and by extension, because of that, most of the people who have more than a passing interaction with HR will have a negative perception. It’s the nature of the role - nobody likes to be told no, or be performance managed, or laid off, etc.

[u/asicarii → u/Majestic-Two3474]

HR has the same stupid employee, do the same shit like sexual harassment. It’s mostly a legal and communications department.

[u/piss_puncher227 → u/sat_ops]

It's in the name, Human Resources, management are there to manage the business, HR is there to manage an unmanageable resource......people.

[u/Alternative-Big3271 → u/sat_ops]

This sounds like the same open lawsuit at SHRM. Yes, SHRM.

[u/zansox → u/Stalker401]

Happened at my old company too - I was the head of commercial legal and our employment legal head took over HR.

There was a pretty noticeable drop in lawsuits/demands because HR actually learned the law, notice requirements, how to document, etc.

Should always be a legal position TBH.

[u/Alex_55555 → u/zansox]

HR should really be renamed into “legal compliance” - that’s what their expected function is. But they’re typically staffed with unqualified ppl who were transferred from more efficient departments instead of being fired. They don’t know anything about the law, and get all of their info from these stupid ppt training presentation - “Susan presented a new business idea to her boss, and he said that he wants to fu.k her. Is this good or bad?”

[u/gordito_delgado → u/Alex_55555]

At one of my old companies HR was basically the "Party Planning Commitee" from the Office.

It does depend a LOT on who they have as a leader there.

[u/BinaryWanderer → u/gordito_delgado]

Oh please tell me you had Waffle parties!?

[u/Azaloum90 → u/Alex_55555]

Lmao I got a good laugh out of that last line 😆

[u/Global_Choice9311 → u/Alex_55555]

Good or bad for who?/s

[u/Alexwonder999 → u/Alex_55555]

I was a union steward for quite a long time and this was always my suspicion. They would say things that were flat our wrong , completely confident, and I had to try to delicately explain why they were wrong and they usually wouldnt believe me and then we'd win the grievance or arbitration pretty easily. I had a feeling they were going to really shitty Relias style trainings or were just on their phones the entire training and scanned the powerpoint because it was pretty consistent. Im not a steward now, but I just got into a recent argument with one because I said we have to list a realistic pay rate with job postings now because we hire nationwide and several states require it. They thought it didnt count if it was remote work. I sent them the legislation and they never responded, just started complying. This isnt the first occasion with this type of thing and instead of listening to me when I tell them something (which is actually rare) they dig in their heels and think theyre going to play gotcha.

[u/AdhesivenessOld4347 → u/zansox]

My HR is oblivious to a lot of stuff. Constantly talks managers from writing people up when they have a gripe like the guy no call / no showed for 4 days then came back. And done this numerous times. Finally during covid multiple employees moved out of state without telling anyone. HR found out and said they couldn’t do anything about it. Some of these employees have tasks that need them to be onsite. Then I said wow, wonder if they get taxed differently in the area they moved to, HR rep looked at me and ask what do you mean? I just walked out.

[u/Impossible-Wear-7352 → u/AdhesivenessOld4347]

Usually it's the opposite, companies needlessly making people RTO when the job can be done fully remote.

[u/PrettyChillHotPepper → u/Impossible-Wear-7352]

It's for tax reasons. Our company said it on day 1. You can only do this amount of WFH - for tax reasons. You cannot WFH from outside the country - for tax reasons.

The company cares if you do tax evasion.

[u/Embarrassed_Mango679 → u/zansox]

Agree. My previous employer (a fortune 500) hired an HR manager who, at his previous place of employment, had been accused of rape and multiple other egregious offences (all court proceedings were easily available on the internet and that company ended up paying out 10 million dollars). Even after the guys on the floor started passing around the publicly available documents about the manager and openly asking questions about it at meetings, they kept him.

I'm like jesus how is no one from corporate legal involved in this decision.

[u/Alexwonder999 → u/zansox]

I dont know if it was because of the law firms they were hiring or because they werent listening, but the last two places I was a steward they would do something and tell us they were supremely confident they could do something because they consulted their lawyers and then we would hand them their ass in arbitration. I can think of like 5 occasions this happened. One time I suggested they get a new law firm in a meeting and the head of HR did not like my joke. Go figure.

[u/Poltergoo → u/Stalker401]

For the last 4 years mine have been after me for a 5k 'overpayment'. This did not occur and I had proof in the form of a contract etc. Every April they come after the money, send me a spreadsheet incorrectly showing the overpayment, and I send the evidence and they never look at it. I finally got them to look at it after raising a complaint, telling them I'm seeking legal advice and writing to my MP. They emailed me last week saying they have 'waived' the overpayment. There's absolutely nothing to 'waive' so had me fuming! Definitely lawyer speak. I fully expect to get another demand for 'overpayment' this April when the spreadsheet pops up again, and fully anticipate some r&r in the form of a few weeks off with 'stress' maybe up to the level of 5k... 😁

E: typos

[u/SaveTheDrowningFish → u/Stalker401]

My friend is the HR director and her husband is the attorney for the sales team.

They just bought out a competitor company in Arizona, a whole lot of unfucking going on.

So much can be done if people just followed policy and not personal preferences.

[u/Treesydoesit → u/Stalker401]

Do we work at the same company?

[u/GringoSwann → u/Stalker401]

Our HRs only qualification was that she was a bitch and VERY Christian....

[u/lamb_of_lancaster → u/GringoSwann]

A terrible combination, to be sure.

[u/yerBoyShoe → u/Stalker401]

As an HR professional and trainer of HR professionals, I support that move.

[u/Low_Woodpecker5439 → u/Raaxis]

A well run HR department is a sign of a well run company. If HR is terrible, that’s a canary in the coal mine.

[u/NRMusicProject → u/Low_Woodpecker5439]

On top of this, I just recently heard that what's going on in the company starts in HR. Laying off HR workers? They're at best not hiring anyone, but more likely about to lay off others. In the market for more HR? Probably looking to hire more employees because business is growing.

[u/GrandsonOfArathorn1 → u/Low_Woodpecker5439]

In some cases. I ran an HR department for a company that was still dogshit to work for. The amount of extra work that goes into managing an HR department for a bad employer is absolutely exhausting.

[u/Lightning_Bugger_00 → u/Raaxis]

My uncle is a labor and employment attorney- he jokes that HR helps him pay the bills. Not the brightest bulbs.💡

[u/sarcasticorange → u/Lightning_Bugger_00]

Selection bias. It is like talking to someone who works in tech support for a product and them saying that their product breaks all the time. They don't hear from the 95% with no issues.

[u/TheCatInTheHatThings → u/Lightning_Bugger_00]

I work for a labour lawyer. Every time HR gets involved the cases get super entertaining to me. I genuinely love how completely inept some of them are.

[u/Front-Mall9891 → u/TheCatInTheHatThings]

Yup, if I had a nickel for everytime I got a labor law pay out strictly because of HR, I’d have 2 nickels, which isn’t a lot, but weird it happened twice

[u/LitRick6 → u/TheCatInTheHatThings]

My HR once bought a bunch of pens with bobble heads on them (really dumb looking imo). The bobble heads came in various skin tones, hair (yarn) colors, and pen ink colors.

So our HR decided to label the box "colored people pens". And then told all of us (engineers) to pass them out to students when we attended career fairs for recruitment. Our engineering department head pointed out to them that maybe they wasnt the best name for the pens to have showing on the box.

[u/OdepiusNecks → u/LitRick6]

Reminds me of Whites Only Laundry.

[u/Alexwonder999 → u/OdepiusNecks]

I was reminded of a scene (maybe Abbot Elementary) where someone comes into a room with two people, one black person and one white person, and he keeps asking if theres "A black person here" while theres a black person sitting right there. The two people continue to get flabbergasted and upset hes doing that. Then they realize hes asking if theres a "Black Purse in here." And hilarity ensues. Sorry for the spoilers.

[u/Glittering_Diva8963 → u/LitRick6]

As a black woman , I cringed 😬 at the label name

[u/AproposName → u/Lightning_Bugger_00]

Taking over finance at a company where HR is doing payroll… that will be changing. Happy to partner with HR on a lot of things, but it’s wasting their time having them control an accounting function.

[u/Direct_Age_2279]

Ok Michael Scott

[u/moirarose42 → u/Direct_Age_2279]

I was at an HR conference last year and one of the payroll companies that was at the expo had the guy that played Toby come for a meet and greet. He said he never felt so loved lol

[u/UncrustableCheeto → u/moirarose42]

Ok that’s hilarious. Celebrity appearance at an HR conference

[u/triple-dog-dar3 → u/UncrustableCheeto]

Angela and Jenna spoke at SHRM last year!

[u/zdelusion → u/UncrustableCheeto]

Every big conference does this kind of stuff, the money flying around at those events is wild. I once saw members of the cast of Hamilton preform a musical song and dance number about Multi Factor Authentication at a conference.

[u/SyncOrSymm → u/moirarose42]

Toby represents HR so well.

[u/kayyxelle → u/Direct_Age_2279]

Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate. So he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family.

[u/3BlindMice1 → u/kayyxelle]

[Michael grinning like he just told the funniest joke]

(Camera pivots to Toby at his tiny desk in a dark corner, trying not to cry)

[u/What_about_my10CCs → u/3BlindMice1]

[u/Whaaa-aaaaaa-aaaat → u/Direct_Age_2279]

Why are you the way that you are?

[u/061van → u/Whaaa-aaaaaa-aaaat]

I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.

[u/whorehey-degooseman → u/061van]

Q1. Who do you think you are?

Q2. What... What gives... 🤔 What gives you the right? 😃

[u/phillyhandroll → u/Whaaa-aaaaaa-aaaat]

"If I had a gun with two bullets and I was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden, and Toby, I would shoot Toby twice."

[u/redhare878787]

This is a very biased statement. HR is more often than not the department that handles government compliance. They are document keepers. They handle benefits and insurance. They in some cases even handle recruiting.

Really depends on the organization. I’ve worked places where HR are assholes that feel they have a point to make. I’ve worked places where HR was your best advocate, the only thing shielding you from a hostile work place.

[u/Bucen → u/redhare878787]

also not every department is meant to create revenue in the first place

[u/jablair51 → u/Bucen]

I've worked in quality control for most of my adult life. We cost a lot of money but we also prevent millions in losses to the company. Companies that don't respect quality go bankrupt very quickly.

[u/cosp85classic → u/jablair51]

A good example is Boeing. They've been paying a hefty price for reducing their QA footprint and authority between 2010 and 2025. They got lucky with that door plug blowout. The only reason they aren't going out of business is their sheer size and diversified portfolio.

[u/Doormat_Model → u/cosp85classic]

That and the government contracts (and connections)

[u/cosp85classic → u/Doormat_Model]

That is what a diversified portfolio would contain. They also have branched out into IT and Space.

[u/Visual-Froyo → u/Doormat_Model]

(and silencing the convenient deaths of whistle blowers)

[u/StatmanIbrahimovic → u/cosp85classic]

Too Big To Fail Two: Aviation Boogaloo

[u/katastrof → u/jablair51]

I'd argue QC actually does generate revenue, but indirectly. If the company gets a reputation for quality products they can charge more 

[u/luckyflavor23 → u/katastrof]

Yes, the ‘indirect’ part is what makes it non-revenue generating in a P&L statement

[u/greg19735 → u/katastrof]

Every part of a company generates revenue indirectly.

The point is that it's not really quantifiable on a report.

[u/Divine_Entity_ → u/Bucen]

A ton of departments are about avoiding losses from either lost business/equipment downtime, or legal fees/law suits.

Safety, maintenance, quality, legal, HR, ect are all about avoiding losses. Operations, sales, and production are about creating revenue. (And R&D is about finding new ways to make revenue)

[u/wesborland1234 → u/Bucen]

All you’d have is salespeople if that was the end all factor.

[u/Global_Choice9311 → u/wesborland1234]

I recently worked for a company, that put a sales man in charge of a small branch out of state from where their HQ is. Im a mechanical engineer hired as a Tech/Application engineer/ office manager etc... I cant tell you how many times I heard him say "sales is more important its wat keeps the lights on". He never kept up with clients after a sale, he sold mostly service contracts that i had to fulfull. I never said it but I always tried to spoon feed him a realization "who fulfills all the service contract you sell?" Salesman are needed but my god was this asshole a prick and entitled.

[u/Shrek_5 → u/Global_Choice9311]

I’m A headhunter and i’m sure they’re exceptions but your top sales guys make the worst managers. All they care about sales, all they care about is competing, all they care about is winning and nothing else. Your best managers, especially sales managers are your like number four or five out of a team of 20 because they’re good enough to rank in the tops, but they’re most likely also helping others, care more about just being the best, etc..

[u/YozaSkywalker → u/redhare878787]

Yeah it can vary from company to company, but having no HR can be a nightmare in itself. Your boss has to answer to HR, the higher ups have to answer to them, and your coworkers too. If there was no HR, they could just ignore labor laws or harass the fuck out of you with nobody to rectify it

[u/mark_able_jones_ → u/YozaSkywalker]

There are so many personal, medical, and behavioral issues, too. Many lower level employees never see them, but managers are constantly interacting with HR. Benefits. Onboarding. Offboarding. Payroll. Pregnancies. Name changes. Emergencies. Conflicts. Most companies are severely understaffed in HR.

[u/ExismykindaParte → u/redhare878787]

They usually handle at least 90% of the payroll process. Accounting typically just helps set up ledger mapping and uses the AP system.for reporting purposes.

[u/BigDumbdumbb → u/redhare878787]

Can you imagine a company with 6,000 employees but no one can hire people, recruit people, set wages, answer questions, has no idea about benefits, ensure compliance, etc.

[u/redhare878787 → u/BigDumbdumbb]

I work for a company that big and can tell you without HR things would be very very fucked.

[u/ihavetoomanyeggs → u/redhare878787]

If you don't hear about what HR is working on, that means they're doing their job right.

[u/razor_hax0r → u/redhare878787]

Did you mean biased?

[u/redhare878787 → u/razor_hax0r]

Damned autocorrect. Yes.

[u/Federal-Spend4224 → u/redhare878787]

The view of HR on social media is beyond ridiculous.

[u/commanderquill → u/redhare878787]

If you don't hear from HR to the point that you have an opinion like the OP, then your HR is doing its job very effectively.

[u/JeebusChristBalls → u/redhare878787]

Yeah, some people can't think of anything outside their own little bubbles. HR is needed. Just like any organization/department, it can be mismanaged, but it doesn't detract from the mission they are supposed to be performing. Bad HR is a leadership issue, not a function issue.

[u/NotSoStallionItalian]

Says HR is useless

Mentions its primary purpose and use

Hmmmm.

[u/Dotcaprachiappa → u/NotSoStallionItalian]

"HR protects the company NOT you"

"why does the company keep them?"

well take a wild fucking guess, Amanda

[u/bartleby42c → u/Dotcaprachiappa]

HR doesn't protect you is also a wild take.

HR is benefits. HR is protection from harassment. HR isn't made to of people who want to screw the rank and file, it's full of people who want to legally help.

[u/hymie0 → u/bartleby42c]

When my then-boss was violating company policy to mistreat me, HR absolutely protected me.

"Protect me" and "protect the company" are not always opposites.

[u/amusingduck → u/NotSoStallionItalian]

them: HR protects the company

also them: why does the company treat HR as if they are essential??

[u/aslatts → u/amusingduck]

Also a lot of people don't understand that protecting you and protecting the company has significant overlap.

Like half of what "protecting the company" means for HR is stopping middle/upper management and your coworkers from breaking the law or doing other dumb stuff, which is largely to the benefit of the average employee.

[u/BraithVII → u/aslatts]

THANK YOU!!!! I’ve worked in HR for 15 years and this is always what I tell people when they complain about HR only being there for the company.

[u/carpe_denimuwu → u/BraithVII]

I’ve found that most of the time when people complain about this it’s usually because they got in trouble for something they did and they don’t wanna take accountability for it. There are definitely some slimey/useless HR departments, but they’re not as common as people act like they are, and bad HR is usually more of a reflection of the company and their policies and not the HR department itself

[u/danram207 → u/BraithVII]

Most people on reddit regurgitate that stupid take because it sounds cool. They’ve put zero of their own thought into it.

[u/Soggy-Building-9476 → u/amusingduck]

also them: kills morale with policies!

Because sexual harassment, racism, theft, and no-show absences are just sooooo good for morale.

[u/Silver-Front-1299 → u/[deleted]]

I work in HR. Our company bought another company that did not have HR….

All their employees, besides C-Suite were all being underpaid. There were hourly employees who should have been salary (exempt). There were no mandated sick policy leave in place. It was a mess. Had ANY employee blow the whistle, the company probably would have been bankrupt because of compliance issues.

Guess who has to clean it up and make it right for the employees…. HR.

[u/AzenNinja → u/[deleted]]

They act like HR goes out of their way to fire the good coworkers and keep the bad ones.

Buddy 9 times out of 10, if you were fired outside of a reorganization, it probably was your fault.

[u/TheSovereignGrave → u/AzenNinja]

My mother works HR, and if I've learned one thing from the stories I've heard it's that the people most deserving of being fired are usually the ones who blame other folk the most.

[u/AzenNinja → u/TheSovereignGrave]

I work in HR, can confirm

[u/poopgrass]

This is interesting. HR is similar to Quality. Until something goes wrong you think it is useless. Wait until you get a terrible manager, a co-worker, no promotion, no ability to understand your benefits and all of the above. HR does alot behind the scenes. There is a saying..."you know you've done everything right when it looks like you've done nothing at all".

[u/ihaveaflattire → u/poopgrass]

I’m in HR, and I kind of hate it at this point and want to leave, but the online take on HR is so silly. It’s true HR protects the company, but I don’t think people realize that “protecting the company” is mostly making sure employment laws are complied with (employment laws are good in my opinion). Which is part of the reason I hate it. Feels like half of my job is an overzealous manager coming to me wanting to discipline someone for a dumb/bad reason and me having to explain to them why we’re not doing that.

[u/chimpfunkz → u/ihaveaflattire]

It’s true HR protects the company, but I don’t think people realize that “protecting the company” is mostly making sure employment laws are complied with (employment laws are good in my opinion).

The people who parrot "HR Protects the company" are the people who expect HR to mediate interoffice petty squabbles. Like, Betty and Casey are ignoring each other despite needing to work together because betty slept with Casey's boyfriend, and then bring that bullshit to work.

HR's (mediation) purpose is to make sure that people act professionally, and don't do illegal things. They aren't the office Mother.

[u/Blueberrycherry72 → u/chimpfunkz]

The best is when people say things like “Jane never said hi to me” and make that their entire grievance

[u/Johannes_Keppler → u/poopgrass]

Saying HR is useless is like saying the janitor is useless because the toilets are clean.

Do away with them and see how the company is running in a few weeks.

[u/Baraga91]

It's all fun and games until your immediate +1 has to do their own recruitment, payroll, benefits, take care of your insurances and is judge, jury and executioner for every discussion, evaluation, promotion and salary increase.

Yes, yes, we all know plenty examples of bad HR people, but somehow nobody is chomping at the bit to do the actual work.

Oh, and if HR is in every meeting you're in, you can complain all you want, but you're probably the fucking issue.

[u/DopestDino → u/Baraga91]

So true. Everyone just thinks HR only consists of the employee relations group that deal with disputes and policies.

[u/Gravuerc]

It really depends on the company and the HR person.

I worked in HR for years and did everything I could to ensure that people got the training they needed to succeed and get promoted.

I did payroll, recruitment and selection, banking, onboarding, scheduling, conflict resolution, investigations, training, creating new programs, tech support, community engagement, and about a thousand other things.

You know what else? I helped tutor people who needed help with getting or adding to their education so that they could get a better position or even a better job.

When I did have to let people go due to corporate greed I made sure I helped them write or update their resumes to help them get passed all the crappy programs that the next HR department was going to use to screen their application out and really work with them on how to best demonstrate the value of their skills.

Not all HR people are soulless and some of us put in a lot of hours.

[u/Outrageous_Tax9426 → u/Gravuerc]

Yea I feel like it's the difference between competent or not. If you have a competent contractor they get the job done. Incompetent you lose money and have to sue. Competent doctor, you get healed up. Incompetent doctor you will never know what was wrong. Competent HR, amazing. Incompetent HR, useless. Competent taco bell worker? Amazing. Incompetent taco bell worker? Diarrhea

[u/Haunting-Detail2025]

“Omg they work for the company, not you!”

Why do people say this like it’s some stunning revelation? No shit Sherlock, it’s the company who signs their checks, not you. They’re not your legal counsel or therapists or victim advocates, they’re there to perform services related to employee benefits and discipline and mediation on behalf of the company.

[u/nykirnsu → u/Haunting-Detail2025]

People fall into black and white thinking and can’t handle the more nuanced take that HR will protect you as long as doing so falls in line with the interests of the company. Just because helping “you” isn’t their primary goal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try getting them on your side if you have a workplace issue, it just means you should escalate to the union or a lawyer if you don’t succeed

[u/Mindless-Baker-7757]

HR does all the benefits shit and deals with dumbass employees. A friend of mine is an HR director and the stupid shit he deals with is real. 

[u/Muggsy423 → u/Mindless-Baker-7757]

Be friends with your HR department so you can get all the juicy details.  In fact be friends with all your departments.  Just be friendly to everyone in your building, I dont want to deal with any assholes.

[u/jun00b → u/Mindless-Baker-7757]

After getting to VP level in a large org it was shocking to me how many employee issues that required HR involvement were happening all the time. There was constantly an employee complaint, behavior issue, labor regulation concern, etc. I have had plenty of frustrations and disappointments with HR, but they are far from an unnecessary part of a professional org. In many occasions it was a relief to have an expert involved to help navigate a difficult situation.

[u/Coldplasma819 → u/Mindless-Baker-7757]

Facts. I deal with everything from "im terrified of 'person' because at my last job they bought me a cake that said "good riddance" when I left" to people legit having sex in an office with paper thin walls in a high traffic area.

It really depends on the size of a company too. People underestimate just how dumb others can be and what they think they can get away with.

[u/kcox1980 → u/Coldplasma819]

I recently became a manager in August of last year and the amount of absolute dumb shit that I've had to deal with in the last 4 and a half months because this branch of my company doesn't have a local HR rep is insane.

• People smoking inside the building.
• One person asked for medical accommodations because they couldn't show up to work on time.
• Had a guy making accusations of racism every single time he was asked to do anything at all(I'm not even exaggerating there - he literally expected to be able to come to work and do nothing but stand around talking all day).
• People taking company tools home to work on their personal projects. Many times "forgetting" to bring them back.
• One guy would tell his girlfriend to stop by the factory and he'd go out and change the oil in her car on company time using company tools.
• One of the Supervisors under me was caught needlessly adjusting people's hours every single day(both adding and taking away) for seemingly no reason.
• I sent one employee on a 2 week work trip and gave her almost $600 in per diem. She bought so many scratch off lottery tickets with it that the rental car company charged me a $50 extra cleaning fee to clean out all the little silver crumbs

That's just scratching the surface, man. It's been an eye opening experience.

[u/Agile_Session_3660 → u/kcox1980]

Yeah, I view the HR department pretty similar to being a first sergeant in the military. You deal with everyone’s dumb bullshit. Without the job, other people now have to waste their own professional time to manage other people’s bullshit. At least the HR person is given the proper authority and has the training to deal with it. People would be amazed at the stupid childish shit that other people constantly do, and some people just never grow up, doesn’t matter what the industry is. 

[u/Katwantscats → u/Mindless-Baker-7757]

Yeah people who endlessly shit on HR would notice when HR disappears. And then they’d be like, “how can we not have an HR department?!”

[u/kcox1980 → u/Katwantscats]

"Why are we paying you, there are no problems!"

Problem happens

"Why are we paying you, you were supposed to prevent this!"

[u/Current_Brick5305]

That could also be said of the SafetyTeam. Only there to protect the company from liability.

[u/campppp → u/Current_Brick5305]

"All these safety measures are unnecessary. There's never any accidents around here!"

[u/DespacitOwO2 → u/Current_Brick5305]

Right? But like still, I'm glad my company has a safety department. I don't want to be in a position where I have to sue the company. I want to be in a position where I go home healthy.

[u/dathomasusmc]

And the lawsuits and labor law violations can crush the company. Maybe not. Maybe you have the most ethical managers in the world. But almost every company I’ve seen has managers willing to cut corners to do things smoother and faster to make themselves happier if HR doesn’t step in and remind them that what they’re doing is illegal.

[u/calebisthinking1995]

My company just let the HR manager go and the others absorbed her responsibilities. So in other words they still do exactly the same duties and we are saving a salary.

[u/Hawk-432 → u/calebisthinking1995]

Yes but many (not all) workers could be removed and their roles absorbed .. but then everyone has to do more work for the same pay .. which helps the company not you. Like HR can be bastards or can be decent. They do protect the firm but also like, we do want worker rights and at least some chance if referral if a boss is abusing people

[u/LackWooden392 → u/Hawk-432]

But it's not quite that simple tho. The role may be only absorbable by other employees temporarily, but involve so much work that in practice any employee you push that hard on a permanent basis will just go elsewhere where the workload isn't unbearable to them, and then you've got double the roles to absorb, etc. Plus, every time that employee doing the extra work calls out sick, now you've got to distribute all those extra duties, plus the original duties, to other employees. And that might not be feasible even temporarily. So you always have to have at least a little 'slack' in terms of manpower to make sure you can survive when something bad happens randomly.

[u/thecoolkev]

what type of company invites them at every meeting though ?

never met an HR besides the first round of recruitment processes

[u/roboczar → u/thecoolkev]

If they're showing up to all of your meetings, you should be looking for a new job.

[u/Baraga91 → u/thecoolkev]

Right? If HR is at every meeting they're in, they're probably the problem :p

[u/Dino_Spaceman → u/thecoolkev]

I assume that manager had enough harassment complaints that they require a HR in the meeting to catch evidence for firing them.

[u/Dino_Spaceman]

If HR is invited to every one of your meetings, the problem at that company is not HR. It is you.

But seriously, it is clear that so many folks in this thread have never been in management if they think HR is useless. They are a freaking lifesaver for hiring, onboarding, candidate screening, payroll navigation (i’m not memorizing the laws around pay in every damn state), benefit negotiation, and yes dealing with shit employees who love to harass others like the sales guy that tells every woman to smile more or the manager who deliberately refuses to work with women.

Every company that has no HR better be like ten people in total or one where they never, ever hire people.

[u/Optimist-Primist → u/Dino_Spaceman]

This! 👆

And even companies with less than 10 people ought to have an HR contractor working on a call off basis, for all the reasons you've mentioned.

You'd have to be at the extreme bottom tier of a company with one foot out the door, to not see the value in a good HR function.

[u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

HR is there to protect the company, not you. They are soulless cyborgs lacking self awareness whose entire professional existence is a euphemistic lie.

[u/_themaninacan_ → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

The inward-facing legal department.

[u/GaptistePlayer → u/_themaninacan_]

Legal by its very nature faces inward lol, the company is their client

[u/MissionLet7301 → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

Sometimes protecting the company helps you, sometimes it doesn't.

Disciplining a manager who's getting a bit touchy-feely with some of the staff early is better for everyone than having it keep going and getting more egregious until you need police involvement.

Reminding a manager that they're not allowed to demand unpaid overtime by company policy is better for everyone than an employee having to take on the risk of large legal costs to get their stolen salary back.

HR isn't a place to complain about your colleagues, but they absolutely should help out if you feel your rights as a worker are at risk of being breached, or if your manager is out of line with company policy, if they don't then they're doing a shit job and aren't even doing the 'protect the company' part.

[u/Lamplorde → u/MissionLet7301]

Like, idk what kinda HR these people have had to deal with, or if theyre just getting their opinions from online, but when I was 19 starting my first job at Dollar General, I was the only male worker. The manager only hired women, except me for some reason?

Anyway, dude was always ogling the girls, and talked to me like I was his buddy. One time I went to another store to help and he asked who I was with there, describing her as "the chick with huge tits". Being a 19 year old nerd, I just said "Idk, her name was ____". And that was just generally how I responded to his dirty shit. I was uncomfortable but didnt really know what to do.

Well one day, one of the women is counting down her drawer in the back, and sees the cameras were zoomed in exactly where her ass would have been out front. She tooks pictures, asked me to write a statement about the way hes been talking, and got some of the other women to make statements about his behavior (though apparently he was way more "open" with me), and she forwarded it all to HR.

They fired his ass immediately. He was a district manager and been working there for years. But with something like this? They didnt play around. He was out.

So yeah, HR was definitely covering for the company there, otherwise these women could have sued the hell out of them. But sometimes, to protect the company they also, as a byproduct, improve conditions.

I have never had to deal with HR since then though, so I'll agree their job is definitely useless 95% of the time. But I never found then particularly harmful.

[u/MissionLet7301 → u/Lamplorde]

The way I see it is that HR isn't too different from IT.

If you're thinking about them all the time, they're probably doing something badly, nobody notices when things just work.

[u/Calm_Independence603 → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

Someone has to babysit you toddlers.

[u/Web-splorer → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

As opposed to the heroes of accounting that will give their lives to protect you. /s

[u/Weird-Knee-3464 → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

Every single employee is there for the benefit of the company, not you.

[u/Misher_Masher → u/Ice_cube_tray_smell]

Unfortunately businesses need protecting from less than desirable and useless employees. 

Until the employees become flawless cyborgs, HR is probably a necessary evil. 

[u/granadesnhorseshoes → u/Misher_Masher]

If unions are bad, HR is bad for the same reason.

[u/lllIIIIlllIIIIlllll → u/granadesnhorseshoes]

true in the sense that both are great to have lol

[u/CompactAvocado → u/granadesnhorseshoes]

woah woah woah

unions make innocent peaceful billionaires have to pay health insurance. this is literally a warcrime :(

[u/Many_Application3112]

Every department and employee is paid to protect the company and not YOU. However, HR's role is to manage personnel, compensation, benefits, and conflicts.

They are your voice at the Executive table. I know many CHRO's that actively advocate for staff in those meetings. Some CHRO's are completely useless but the HR department ends up following the lead of the CHRO. If you have a great CHRO, then you'll see that your HR team is amazing. If you don't...they are no different than the IT Help Desk Ticketing system...

[u/After_Lobster_7039]

No, it's not "a mystery".

Example: Hiring and firing (core HR tasks, at least at a management support level) cost EXTREMELY much to get wrong.

[u/FuklzTheDrnkClwn]

Doesn’t HR typically also handle payroll? Would that be the 10%?

[u/AccomplishedCharge2]

Everybody thinks HR and corporate-speak is soulless and valueless until they listen to the Materials Engineer who runs the Metallurgy department try to verbalize why he chose one qualified candidate over another qualified candidate

[u/Captain21423]

My HR helps with medical leave, medical insurance, retirement benefits, etc

I’m not fooled into thinking they are my friend but they are useful.

[u/dxr723]

Anyone who feels like HR is unnecessary either:

1. Works at a small company,
2. Is “front lines” at a large company, or
3. Not in a leadership position of consequence at a large company

HR on the whole does a poor job proving its value to the business, and are often thrust into doing the “other” stuff (e.g. being the meat shield for the company).

I’ve worked for two large firms (one being a Fortune 100 oil company), and the HR experience for employees is vastly different depending on their own standing within the company.

The same leaders I worked with as HR sometimes didn’t care for the controllers (accountants) or the legal team bc they also feel like those departments “get in the way”. HR isn’t the only function designed to protect the company from itself; it’s just the one that is also employee-facing

Anyway…I know most of my colleagues suck (bc they annoy me also), so the jokes still apply.

[u/IndiviLim → u/dxr723]

We should also keep in mind that some comments on here are literally kids who have never had a job.

[u/killallhumans12345]

Woohoo! Can't wait to bring back the hardcore sexual ennuendo, and ass slapping back to the office - and that's just the guys, wait till you see what I do to the chicks!

[u/whateverImao → u/killallhumans12345]

Seriously lmao what is this post

[u/TraditionalLaw4151 → u/whateverImao]

Show some respect. Killallhumans here is on the frontlines defending your ass from non-stop spanking.

[u/whateverImao → u/TraditionalLaw4151]

I am pro-killallhumans comment and anti-OP, for clarity lol

[u/rebelswalkalone]

Everyone who works in HR, excluding payroll, could stop showing up to work tomorrow and no one would even notice.

[u/SpecificRemove5679 → u/rebelswalkalone]

So I've had to take leave twice for birth of my children and also a family leave because my mom had a stroke 2 weeks before my first child was born. My HR was AMAZING. They handled all my paperwork. Told me how I can take off early without using my maternity leave. They were wonderful.

You're right - I had no idea where their offices were even located before that, but was super grateful to have them when I needed them.

[u/PapaSmurf3477 → u/rebelswalkalone]

My company was a startup and just crossed 100 employees. Apparently our hr person took another job about 5 months ago and none of us in sales had any idea lol. I asked my director about paternity leave and he said he’d ask HR. He didn’t know we didn’t have an HR person for almost half a year either lol

[u/Prophet_Of_Helix → u/PapaSmurf3477]

Who was doing your payroll and benefits then?

[u/Dino_Spaceman → u/Prophet_Of_Helix]

Also when those 100 people were hired, who was making sure it was done legally?

[u/Prophet_Of_Helix → u/rebelswalkalone]

I don’t work in HR, but I do work with HR departments, and it’s always funny how little people on Reddit understand what HR does.

They handle your pay. You manager can’t do that. You can’t do that.

They handle your benefits, from health to dental to retirement to other state/federal programs.

They handle overseeing business compliance with state and federal regs including things like safety.

They handle hiring and firing of employees.

They handle accounting and financing alongside the CFO and other higher ups.

And yes, they also handle things like complaints, protect the company, etc.

If 90% of a given companies HR dept didn’t show up tomorrow you would be in a world of shit.

I will also say that 90% of the people I deal with are just nice people trying to get through the day in a job. They don’t have anything against their employees, and they have a lot of responsibility.

But yes, it’s easy as an employee to bitch about HR, so I get it.

They’re bitching about your lazy unaccountable ass too btw.

But still doing their best to get you paid on time.

[u/MajesticTop8223 → u/Prophet_Of_Helix]

Yea, people on reddit are probably the ones HR has to field complaints about regarding hygiene in a professional environment so wouldn't put too much stock in their opinions.

[u/Aware_Chemistry_3993 → u/rebelswalkalone]

As an HR manager….trust me, you would not like it if I stopped doing all the small daily processes that keep everyone’s pay coming in and benefits functioning. Payroll is often a part of HR, but hey if getting paid is a useless function to you then sure.

[u/MajesticTop8223 → u/Aware_Chemistry_3993]

Funny how people are like "I have no clue what they do, they must be bad and useless"

Kinda telling on yourself with the stance

[u/kcox1980 → u/Aware_Chemistry_3993]

It's like IT.

If there are no problems, then they call you useless because they don't understand that you're the reason it's running smoothly.

If there is a problem, then they call you useless because they think you're incompetent for not preventing it in the first place.

[u/PhantomGoat13 → u/rebelswalkalone]

Or Recruiting/Onboarding. None of the department managers want to do that.

[u/Weird_Albatross_9659 → u/rebelswalkalone]

Until all your benefits disappear

[u/Katwantscats → u/rebelswalkalone]

Hmmmmm I think you’d notice when your benefits don’t get re enrolled

[u/RustyGlove → u/rebelswalkalone]

That is the most braindead take ever. Benefits? Pension? Hiring? Labour relations? LTD? HRIS?

Do you genuinely think organizations dont need people managing this stuff?

[u/Bloodcloud079]

Honestly I think HR is actually one of those things that you will never notice when it’s working properly and immediately notice every fuck up.

I know my company has an enormous HR department. I also never feel they exist. But I do like my job and have a ton of benefits.

[u/Additional_Ad_8131]

Sure but sometimes the companies and your interests align.

[u/JamesH_670]

My company replaced most of their HR department with an AI bot. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but it’s definitely not warm and fuzzy.

[u/jason2354]

How often are people interacting with HR during their day to day jobs?

I get that no one likes rules, but I’m not going to blame Carol from HR for the rules created by the company. I’m also not interacting with Carol more than 2-3 times a year when I’m running through talent evaluations or dealing with something random.

[u/bambaraass]

IE, “remove most women from the workplace”.

[u/ILiketoLearn5454]

At a certain size, you need somebody to manage the time sucking singularity that personelle matters are. 

[u/glimmerfox]

I needed HR recently to do something about the toxic work environment I was in. My boss wasn't taking it seriously until I gave HR the evidence I was also showing him. Once they got involved, he finally had to get off his ass and do something about the problematic employee.

[u/Training_Chicken8216]

protect the company

Yeah, that's why the company pays them...

[u/pinetree64]

Payroll, benefits, onboarding, recruiting were all in HR in last two companies I was with.

[u/Maximum-Cry-2492]

"Protect the company." It's right there in the rant.

[u/JMthought]

HR isnt your friend but it’s a bit like saying “let’s get rid of finance so we can spend whatever we want.”

In the Uk at least, HR is a double edged sword. They are about compliance so if you’re being screwed over a good HR department walks you through your rights. But they will also enforce the law against you to protect the employer as well. HR is the main channel, alongside a union, to flag things like discrimination etc so if you remove that you’re in part going back to a Wild West version of employment. Also having worked for places without HR at all, it’s such a pig. Every aspect of recruitment and induction done by the line manager - messy, inconsistent, and a time sink. No fairness in recruitment processes snd no staff training and development.

[u/Practical_Bake_2395]

This chat is full of people who have never led an organization. Try to do it without HR 😏

[u/Klingon_Jesus → u/Practical_Bake_2395]

When my startup finalized its current funding round, an HR / hiring manager / recruiter was literally the first role I filled, because I had dozens of new roles to fill and didn't have capacity to do it myself, nor time to craft employee handbooks, training materials etc.

No idea why they'd be at every meeting though, that makes no sense to me.