Should the enforcement of the Law Society be totally enforceable? This is going to cause a lot of concern to majority of the HR professionals that are out there. I believe that there needs to be a very happy medium.
The Law Society has gone through a few new changes and I am not sure as a HR Professional I agree with some.
As an HR Professional you are required to take employment law and in most cases, employee relations.
When we are required to do such courses is it not then part of our job to ensure that the employer is obeying by the laws, legislation, Acts, Codes and so forth? Is it not our job to produce documents that are legal to the best of our ability and knowledge and when needed, consult with either a paralegal and/or a lawyer at that point? Or is it that each time we create a document, such as a policy, contact a paralegal or lawyer or both?
I believe that if these are mandatory courses that are set out by HRPA (Human Resources Professionals Association) then they have done careful consideration and put a lot of thought into ensuring that all the mandatory courses are within the roles of HR? So is it not that when you have an employee relations issue that you gather the facts, hear both sides of the story and then come to a conclusion based on the evidence produced?
When I took law in 1994, 1995, 2010 and 2011 and I attend law seminars through First Reference and Stringer law offices not to mention the numerous emails from the other various resources available to have info at my fingertips, so are we now just going to look the other way? Shall I call a lawyer each time I want to make a change to a policy or discipline an employee? Not likely!
After asking around for the thoughts from a few well respected lawyers, they had a good chuckle out of my thoughts, concerns and questions. More than once I heard that it is not something that really needs to be a stress factor. That there are some changes happening all around and some focus on silly things like going after the little guy trying to inflate their ego and deflate what they think is a threat.
This is great; however, it is still causing havoc to many HR professionals. Especially the ones that are not claiming to be a paralegal or lawyer, and we state that up front, but rather advise our clients that it is recommended they seek proper legal advice, however, here is what we/I do know. It is up to the client/employer to do what they see fit. If they are comfortable not seeking further legal knowledge or a legal professional, that is their prerogative, or are we supposed to be more forceful and decline the offer to comment on the topic?
I do not believe there reason to have HR professionals go through all the education, training only to find out that they cannot utilize what they have been taught and spent funds on. I do think however, some of the paralegals need to take into consideration that we are taught this for a reason. As such I am one professional that has altered to a degree, my approach to this sensitive issue.
I now will try and refrain from giving any real advise in order to avoid all hard feelings and possible hard down the road. I think this is a battle that HRPA and The Law Society need to hash out and come to a happy medium in order to get this resolved. Sitting behind a desk and skirting amount all this is avoiding not resolving the issue.
I am looking forward to a fair resolution. I will keep you posted as well.
The opinions conveyed in this post are those of Lisa Smith-Maxim and not HRreview or its parent companies.