HR Wants To Check Employees’ Personal Phones Anytime They Want, People Are Not Having It

Human Resources departments are vital to a healthy work environment. When they’re doing their job well, HR departments are a helpful tool offering support to employees and boosting company morale. They should ensure that the staff feels safe and comfortable in the workplace and with the policies that are in effect. Occasionally, however, employees can find themselves frustrated with HR departments who seem to only care about the interest of the company and completely disregard the workers.

A week ago, Reddit user pretendlawyer13 logged on to share an upsetting new policy enacted by the HR department of his job. He wrote to r/antiwork, a subreddit with almost 2 million members “who want to end work, are curious about ending work, and want to get the most out of a work-free life”, and many readers responded sharing frustration for the new policy. Keep reading to hear from pretendlawyer13 and some of the readers who provided support and alternative solutions.

And when you’ve finished reading this piece, keep up the anti work content with some more Bored Panda publications here and here.

More info: Reddit

If you’ve ever seen The Office, you know that HR has a stereotype of being everyone’s least favorite person. (Poor Toby, he was just doing his best...) While HR is behind the scenes ensuring everyone gets paid on time and updating company policies, about 70% of employees report that they don’t trust their HR department. While they are the go-to contacts to report issues in the workplace such as discrimination or harassment, apparently employees are now seeking outside assistance to handle problems in the office. Blind Blog reports that "apps that provide informed advisers and legal resources for workers" are becoming increasingly popular to avoid interactions with HR.

But it doesn't have to be this way, HR departments can get back on the side of employees. According to HR Gazette, employees just want to be seen and heard when they have concerns about working conditions. For example, "Employees usually complain about bad lighting and for good reason: too much or too little light lead to eye strain whereas harsh artificial lighting can easily trigger headaches or even migraines in some people. When employees don’t have headaches and back pain, the time they spend in the office will be more comfortable for them and as a result, they will be happier and more productive.” An HR manager who listens to employee concerns and actually implements changes for the benefit of workers is doing their job well. When conditions are improved, staff members become happier, and the overall morale of the company is boosted.

Navigating an HR position is difficult, but it’s not impossible to keep employees satisfied. When the “human” part of human resources is focused on, situations like the story above can be avoided. Employers have no right to infringe on the privacy of employees, and HR has a responsibility to advocate for workers. Hopefully, the company in the story above has since listened to their employees and reconsidered this new policy.

Have you ever had to deal with unreasonable requests from HR? We’d love to hear your story in the comments below!