HR has never been on the employee's side of things, they are charged with keeping the reputational damage and any perceived discriminatory employment practices to a minimum, their day will eventually come when they terminate the long term employee that has the ability and financial incentive to fight back.
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HR is a power position. Some of them play that game very well.
HR is full of "Yes Men" who like fu-king with workers.
Because I've had a lot of ICs that should have been fired but were instead protected by HR so they could stick around until they left of their own volition. Until then though, they tended to be unreliable, nonproductive, and a risk to the organization.
Anyone that thinks that HR doesn't slow/stop employees from being termed when they should be, or that you can just fire anyone you want for any reason you want in some states clearly hasn't dealt with WF HR much.
"It's a nightmare getting rid of people here. Ask me how I know."
Yup, was involved at one time in this example.
The younger folks who believe that HR is your friend will soon learn.
At another fortune 500 banking firm, HR terminated my employment on Christmas day. The reason given for the termination was "applied and qualified for short term disability". Up until my termination I always received "exceeds expectations ratings during my performance reviews and was recognized at the enterprise level for outstanding performance. There was no consideration given to reputational damage or perceived discriminatory employment practices. Less than 4 weeks after my original manager left, the interim manager began actively pursuing ways to terminate me. When he was unable to come up with a legitimate performance reason he worked with HR to find a reason. The only negative they could find was that I applied and qualified for short term disability.
I did fight back, but it took 3 years. The attorney took the case on contingency once he reviewed the termination letter from the company.
Bottom line: HR has the board of directors and shareholder authority to operate outside the law with no consequences. Even if you have the "right" according to labor laws, HR will operate as directed by senior management.
Be careful when dealing with anyone from HR if you want to stay around.
How do you know?
Clearly OP has never worked with HR to get rid of an employee that is absolutely and completely horrible on every level. It's a nightmare getting rid of people here. Ask me how I know.
True and rightfully so. There is nothing in the world worse than these types of employees. It is the closest most managers have come to experiencing he-l on earth.
What’s really incredible is to watch these employees hang around for years and outlast managers (which does sometimes happen). They put forth and incredible amount of stamina and effort to cling to their job out of technicalities, but put forth no effort to actually perform their job well and build a career.
I’m convinced they just want the health insurance or are stubborn. Likely a combo of both.
I have never met anybody who complained to HR about being harassed or bullied or else criticize an action by management and was able to kept his/her. The minute you complain to HR about something, you are considered a liability (potential whistleblower, plaintiff in lawsuit, etc.). Even if the culprit manager eventually gets "disciplined" (not always the case), the employee filing the complaint will always lose his/her job.
Yes, HR is not your friend.
HR also arrogated to themselves covid gestapo powers, mandating the vaccines and acting like hysterical lunatics for the last 2.5 years.
i learned this as a consultant, no matter how abusive, keep your mouth shut with hr