Labor & Employment Law

HR is NOT the Cafeteria Police

HR is NOT and should never be, under any circumstances whatsoever, responsible for egg salad sandwiches, toilet paper in the rest room, and other nonsensical issues related to boorish behavior or poor manners.  There, I've said it and feel a little better.

I stumbled upon a ridiculous blog post about a human resources manager posting a notice in the company cafeteria warning employees not to steal each others' food.   What I found most appalling was not that the employees were stealing each others' food but that the HR manager felt that he/she "had to" post a notice governing refrigerator behavior.  What fools think that it is HR's responsibility to monitor the refrigerator in the employee cafeteria?  And, let me guess, these are the same fools that are upset that they "don't have a seat at the table," that they are "underpaid" relative to their colleagues with similar titles, or that they "don't get no respect."

Come on!  With all of the uncertainty in the economy, health care in its current state, employee engagement at its lowest point in who knows how long, this is not what HR professionals should be focusing on.  Those that do, are missing opportunities to improve the workplace, provide value to their organizations, and make a positive difference in so many other, professional, ways.

Full post as published by Strategic HR Lawyer on November 08, 2009 (boomark / email).