Admin questions you’re afraid to ask
January 20, 2009 by Bill MeltzerPosted in: Compliance, Human Resources Administration, Latest News & Views
Ever heard the one about the employee who wants to claim his three wives as dependents? While that one’s probably an urban legend, every benefits/HR manager runs into some unusual situations.
From a legal standpoint, how can you be sure you’re handling such situations properly? Sometimes the issue seems absurd to upper management, and they don’t want to be bothered with it. But as every HR and benefits manager knows, bizarre situations can have messy legal consequences if they’re not handled right. And it’s not like most HR/benefits managers have a lawyer at their beck and call.
That’s why we’re fond of using the Quirky Employment Questions blog to research the answers to some of the most difficult – and sometimes downright bizarre – benefits and HR management questions.
Not only does the site provide a thorough legal analysis of the sorts of problems that make managers pull their hair out, it offers the explanations in plain English rather than legalese. And the site is updated weekly with a new question.
Even if the particular situation isn’t one you’re facing right now, the blog often makes for interesting reading. And you’ll often find that situations that seem rare may happen much more commonly than you’d believe.
Of course, no Web site is a substitute for actual legal advice. In truly difficult situations, you should still consult with a company lawyer and, if necessary, upper management.
While your own common sense and intuition often points to the best course of action, state and federal benefits and HR laws are notoriously quirky and sometimes counterintuitive.
September 15th, 2008 at 6:11 am
I have an HR Question? My boss, the HR Director of our company speaks to employees rudely and unprofessionally. For example: Her door is always closed and when you knock and she says to come in, she will glare at you and say, “What, I am busy, so hurry up”. Another example is: My co-worker, new at the time went in to my boss’ office to bring her some paperwork and my boss told her that she needs to start wearing make up and do something with her hair because it was too flat! Her emails are on the border of verbal abuse. I have made a report to the VP of HR and was told to wait patiently because my current boss is retiring in 9 months. What else can I do because I don’t know if I can wait 9 long months and deal with this. Please help!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Hello Kelly,
Unfortunuately for you, your boss being rude and ill mannered are not grounds for firing. Sad to say you may have to wait out the nine months. The end result should be worth the wait!
Hang in there if your job is worth it and in this time of financial trouble it definitely is worth it.
Peggy
October 31st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I had a boss with a similar problem. My answer was to pile on the sympathy every time I had to deal with her. I got really proactive with it. If I had to disturb her for any reason, I would appoligize and tell her how BUSY I knew she was and how much I hated to disturb her but I needed her expert assistance with whatever I had to deal with. I laid it on with a trowel. It didn’t always curb her rudeness but it made it less stressful for me. I was able to tough it out until she moved on to a different job in the company and I got a new and better boss.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
kelly your vp of hr is a wimp! no way especially in hr (work environment) managers have to be rude. the company should expedite her retirement or remind her she is practicing borderline harrasment and if it continues her retirement will be quicker than planned (maybe this is what she wants) after 49 years in hr. work it i still hear about rude/sarcastic/bully type of hr folks. hr teaches, trains, reminds other dept managers not to fall into this type of persoanlity in dealing with their employees. what in God’s name allows them to think they can be different. blows my mind. summarize a lot of damage can be done in 9 months. take action immediately and correct problem if not corrected earlier retirement. i am sorry kelly you have experienced this type of treatment from a hr manager.