Most HR professionals have been coerced

Unlawful terminations, health and safety violations among illegal and unethical acts

Eight years ago, Kathi Duncan was the HR manager for a family-run business when an employee with more than five years of service was terminated and not given severance.

When Duncan, now the manager of HR for legal and financial publisher Merrill Corporation Canada in Toronto, spoke up, she was told the company had given the employee a free laptop and that was enough. Fearing she would lose her job, Duncan didn’t push the issue.

“Today I wouldn’t do the same. Today I would definitely say ‘That’s illegal,’” she said. “I still feel badly about it.”

Unfortunately, Duncan isn’t alone, with 78.2 per cent of HR professionals reporting they have been coerced into doing something morally or legally ambiguous at least once in their careers, according to the most recent Pulse Survey.

The survey, sponsored by the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) of Ontario and Canadian HR Reporter, also found nearly one-quarter (22 per cent) of the 794 professionals surveyed quit because of the coercion and 32.6 per cent have considered quitting.

More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents have been asked to turn a blind eye to unethical behaviour at least once. Respondents cited behaviour that included not paying overtime, violating health and safety policies, firing someone without cause and not paying severance.

Nearly as many respondents (62.4 per cent) reported being asked or pressured into hiring someone, usually a friend or family member, who was not as qualified as another candidate.

HR professionals work with and have access to confidential information about employees and 59.6 per cent of respondents have been asked to reveal this information. One in five respondents (18.8 per cent) were also asked to falsify official documents, such as workers’ compensation claims.

When HR professionals are put in these positions, they have two choices. They can refuse to do the morally or legally questionable act, which could cost them their job, or they can do nothing.

If they choose to do nothing, they could be setting themselves up for problems down the road, said Duncan.

“A person’s HR credibility and professionalism could be at risk,” she said.

Even if they are able to escape professional responsibility, the decision to do nothing will haunt them, said John Skakie, a 27-year HR veteran and vice-president of employee engagement for Toronto-based customer experience measurement firm BehaviorWorx.

“I really, truly believe that HR needs to stand up,” he said. “Sometimes it’s easier to turn a blind eye to it as long as you’re not going to be implicated, but the problem with that is that you have to look yourself in the mirror every day.”

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