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Comment by rewqfdsa | Hacker News Reader

Never talk to HR.

Remember your employment rights. Or, if you're in the US, remember you have almost no employment rights.

It would be interesting to see how this would be handled in the European Union. It's almost certain that it would have been more work for the HR department than in the US.

I work in a central European country and had a similar issue (see my comment above) where I was the culprit. HR told me they we're approached by my colleague and I should avoid her und stick to the code of conduct. I think my job was not on the line, which prevented me from the moronic defense mode that OP engaged into.

European companies have a duty of care to protect their employees from harm. This harm could be harassment or bullying from other employees. So most companies will have a policy against bullying and harassment. If someone else makes a complaint against you that complaint should be investigated; you'll be spoken to; mediation might be attempted; "guidance" will be given.

If you ignore the guidance they'll start issuing warnings. Those warnings are kept on file to help with potential employment tribunal cases.

In the UK: after two verbal warnings and one written warning you'll be fired. Or sooner, if your behavior meets the gross professional misconduct level. (You punch someone, for example.)

I don't know why this was down voted -- it's good (if impractical) advice - HR is not there to help you (the employee), HR is there to help the company avoid future lawsuits.

Talking to HR is like talking to the police - assume that nothing you say will be used to help you and that everything you say will be used against you. The difference between talking to HR and talking to the police is that you have more legal protections when talking to the police.

You can't get away with not talking to HR at all, but you can certainly be careful what you say.

Don't talk to Police:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

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