I used to believe HR was there to protect employees. After a complaint I filed somehow made its way back to my manager, I’m not so sure. At the same time, HR has to protect the company legally. Is it unrealistic to expect HR to be neutral?

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It’s a double-edged sword always. Making a formal complaint against somebody will almost always make it back to them. It’ll need to be addressed, and they’ll have to give their side, too. HR is a department of the company and works there just like you do. They are neutral in the sense that they need to put compliance and legality ahead of favoritism, but not every HR department even does that.

There's an urban myth and legend about the role of HR. Very few companies or employers that have HR teams that are advocates for the employee. They are mainly to share policy and avoid risk. The only time in my decades, is with a university that had Ombudsmen, not HR. The Ombudsmen were specifically employee advocates and truly worked to improve the workplace.

Never assume HR is going to act in your best interest. They are going to figure out what poses the biggest risk to the company and act accordingly to protect the company…including telling your manager about your complaint. Your HR shouldn’t have made your complaint public, but that’s unfortunately the reality.

HR is there to protect the company. Sometimes you get lucky and that aligns with protecting you as well, but that is not their goal.

They are never neutral! I learned this the hard way unfortunately, there’s some good people working in HR who will listen but ultimately just benefit the company.

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