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And HR people can never be trusted to be on your side on any issue. Never, ever confide in an HR person, getting rid of you in some way is always the easiest solution to any problem.
Only when you first take outside council and then go to HR through them, do you have some sort of protection from getting swept under the rug.
HR are the work police.
Exactly. It's no different than never, ever, EVER saying a word to the
capital defense forcepolice(in the US). Nothing good and only bad can come of it. The rare honest US cop will tell you that themselves, when they aren't busy beating a minority/homeless person senseless and planting drugs on them, at least.That is what HR is, your office cop. Anything you say can and will be used against you.
Ok, counterpoint.
As a white-passing clearly upper middle class person, I have been in situations where I just told the cop exactly what I was doing and why I was there, and got told "well you can't be here now, go home". It helped that I wasn't up to anything illicit, but the determining factor was my Pantone ranking and grooming.
If I'd said "I won't say anything to you without a lawyer", I probably would have been in for a lot of hassling.
I'm not saying "be respectful and it'll be good" or any of that bullshit (got biracial kids, that isn't the talk I'm going to have).
The bit from formerly-funny Dave Chappele where the white guy tells the cop "I'm sorry, I didn't know I couldn't do that" has a chunk of truth in it.
You don't have to spit on cops and antagonize them to not speak to them or offer them any info.
Wait until you're in a protest with knowledgeable people who have your back to square up against the police.
Awesome generalization. This is so wholly dependent on the country, company, HR policy and HR person, that it's a pretty useless statement.
While it is a generalization, HR is there to represent the company, not you. Good HR personnel will do their best to accommodate both... but their job is on the line if they cause harm to the company by supporting you instead.
It's not good to just assume that everyone in certain positions is an evil ghoul who is just out to screw you... but it's worse to assume they're your friend and there to help you no matter what.
Don't know what country you live in, but I worked in HR and I would've had the company's ass if they'd tried to fire me because I supported a co-worker. And that's why this generalization is so sucky. In my opinion generalization is one of mankind's worst diseases we have. So be terrific and be specific.
Yet this HR professional is generalizing about workers like they are crabs in a bucket. Hmmm.
Yes and she's an idiot for doing so. But just because someone else is doing the same thing, doesn't mean it justifies a response with just as much generalization.
The company often has more resources than you, and while many countries have strong support for their workers, it's not a golden bullet. It's still often a long and arduous process that would drive anyone insane.
Sure, maybe in your experience, you think you'd rake them over the coals in your imaginary scenario... but it's nowhere near clear cut in reality.
So don't presume to assume that your viewpoint is universal either.
Why would you presume that my experience is imaginary? I've been in situations where I've gone against the company and there was nothing they could do. And I've stood close to situations where a company tried everything to get someone fired and it either didn't work or they had to give them a big bag of money and help them find another job. You see, in countries where labor laws are actually (to a degree, there's always room for improvement) well-written it's not only hard to fire someone, it's relatively easy for workers to put up a fight.
And I've never stated that my viewpoint is universal, I've only stated that the original point was generalized and I had a problem with that. And against my better judgement I replied. Because anytime you go against the grain and don't adhere to the 'work bad, company bad' mantra in this circlejerk of a community, all hell breaks loose.