4 Human Resources Headaches to Approach with Caution

Human Resources (HR) professionals play a critical role in keeping companies legally compliant with state and federal regulations. Being an HR professional means addressing difficult problems that must be carefully handled and resolved.

Hiring Discrimination Claims

HR professionals must oversee the entire hiring process. This means that they must post job ads and review resumes and applications. They must screen, interview and hire candidates. However, the Department of Labor works with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to ensure that job candidates and current employees are not discriminated against.

For example, HR professionals are prohibited from asking job candidates about their gender, ethnicity, disability or marital status. Therefore, a casual question during an interview could end up being misconstrued as a reason for why the candidate wasn’t hired.

Employee Grievances

HR professionals often act as mediators between hourly employees and management. In fact, dealing with an uncooperative union is a major headache for many HR professionals. Therefore, they must have excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.

Related Article: Make Your First Hire Your Best Hire

Employee grievances are formal complaints submitted by an employee against a co-worker or the company. For example, an employee who is often forced to work overtime without pay will naturally wish to receive their rightful revenue.

Accidents

Senior HR professionals often act as safety managers. They are often responsible to maintain compliance with OSHA’s legally mandated injury record keeping regulations. This is commonly referred to as the OSHA Form 300A, which is generally posted in employee lunchrooms.

However, HR professionals are also involved with accident investigations and safety programs. In fact, HR professionals are often tasked with safety training, inspections and documentation.

Therefore, HR professionals must be able to appropriately respond to accidents in order to reduce workers’ compensation claims and increased insurance rates. A masters degree in emergency management, occupational safety or health is a wise career choice for HR professionals who wish to work in an industrial field.

Employee Training

HR professionals must provide mandatory OSHA training for industry-based businesses. For example, a construction company’s HR manager will be required to train employees on certain safety topics, such as fall hazards and personal protective equipment (PPE). On the other hand, an HR manager in a manufacturing facility will have to work with supervisors to train employees on proper lock-out-tag-out procedures, which are used to lock equipment during maintenance.

To recap, HR professionals must deal with sensitive and highly important issues, such as discrimination prevention, employee grievances, employee training and accident investigations and safety programs.

Author: Anica Oaks is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here. Anica writes on behalf of Eastern Kentucky University, which offers an online master’s emergency management degree to prospective students.