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Comment by dvt | Hacker News Reader

HR is not your friend and HR will never be your friend. In a post-2008 world, it baffles me that people still think that somewhere, deep-down, multi-billion dollar conglomerates have employees' best interests at heart. How quickly we forgot people losing their lifelong savings and entire pension funds going bust. Only to have the government bail out the exact same charlatans that dropped the ball in the first place.

Corporate culture is very much a zero-sum game, and I think a pinch of cynicism (or heck, realism) can go a long way.

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I completely agree. If I ever find myself in the situation of one of these stories, aka the victim, I will be going straight to an employment lawyer before HR to discuss my options. Hopefully meeting with HR with my lawyer present.

Yeah. Never underestimate domain expertise either. They love to deal with someone who's "smarter" but who lacks that knowledge.

It's weird that HR has to be such an adversarial entity though. One might naively expect them to provide some kind of useful utility beyond protecting the company, even if that's their primary purpose... In my only rather mundane interaction with them, not as a victim or anything, at the suggestion of the office manager I tested the waters with a complaint about people bringing their kids into the office and letting them roam. I still recollect a surreal feeling from the HR rep telling me how they liked how carefully and precisely worded my email was -- it felt like a sign of them telling me they know that I know not to trust them and that my distrust is justified since without such careful wording it'd be trivial to paint me as a parent- or child-hating monster, or whatever, who is the real problem. I got more than I expected out of the exchange (a reminder was sent out to the office that it's against the rules -- not that it stopped anyone the following summer) but the experience alone from satisfying my curiosity on whether HR could be useful with even this one minor annoyance was worth the risk (real or imagined) of backfire.

I’m curious, how do the pricing compare? Having a lawyer at an HR interview is certainly $800 already (at $300/hr), with what, 2% chances of succeeding a trial, and say 15% chances of getting a settlement, but also months of dragging. lawsuit and difficulty to focus on a new job, assuming you find a new employer. Do people really get settled for dozens of thousands of dollars?

If the suit survives a motion to dismiss, all the time.

And your case would probably be dismissed before it ever gets off the ground. That’s if you can get an attorney to take it in the first place. You could have an ironclad case of whatever and if everyone shows up to court and it’s the first time the company is hearing about it, chances are the judge will throw it out. They generally have to be given an opportunity to respond before you can go kick their asses in court.

Don't be baffled! No one thinks this. Everyone has seen a variation of this comment a million times by now, and everyone knows it, but companies will never be able to admit it. It's all about putting stress on the lie. If a corp won't solve its issues and employees quit because of it, "well duh of course they're gonna protect stakeholders' interest" isn't really helpful or new.

I think it's still good advice. The first thing big corporations do when you join is make you sit through a bunch of mandatory compliance videos that teach you that you're not allowed retaliate against people who report harassment or corruption. Then they make everyone sign an agreement to follow the code of conduct, which everyone does. I can certainly see how anyone who still any faith left in humanity could believe these claims to be true.

> No one thinks this

History and experience tells me the exact opposite - most folks still think HR is there for them, which is the root of many issues.

If my colleagues are anything to go by, almost everyone thinks this.

HR as an organization is not your friend. However, the individual you encounter in HR may be more or less favorably inclined towards you. As an example, I suffered a serious health issue and it just so happened that the HR person assigned to my case had gone through the exact same thing. That person was extremely helpful advising me of my rights and how to exercise them.

Organizations are prone to various pathological behaviors, but the individuals in them are still thinking breathing feeling human beings and sometimes they choose to act decently. Be willing to give them that chance.

One on one sure but in packs they will eat you alive.

There are companies that buck the trend of growth and profits at all cost. None of them are publicly traded.

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