The Role of HR in Employee Relations
In a healthy company with good HR practices, there are no such issues. HR formally creates rules to follow for every kind of employee relations, leave, festive holidays, etc. They can even invite suggestions and formulate standard rules for all.
The Impact of HR's Mood on Employee Welfare
In my experience, HR's mood plays a significant role in employees' welfare schemes. It is common for employees to add a few more days to their festival holidays both before and after so they can be with family and travel to their home state or village.
Managing Public Holidays and Employee Preferences
On many public holidays, employees wish to take time off together and work on a holiday. However, while this may be helpful to some, it may not be beneficial to others. Some employees may prefer having two consecutive days off to do other things and get frustrated when they see colleagues making the "lazy sleeping" decision.
Avoiding Friction and Enhancing Productivity
HR should think wisely and avoid creating friction with employees that could hinder the company's productivity. In many companies, middle festive holidays are not counted towards approved holidays as employees have the right to avail of them. These holidays should not be deducted from annual leave or approved holidays based on technical calculations.
Handling Absenteeism Around Holidays
If employees remain absent after a festive holiday or are absent a day before a holiday, they should be asked to explain, and their entitled casual leave should be accounted for. Managers should grant permission without creating arbitrary reasons to neglect it.
HR's Role in Company Dynamics
HR is not the boss of the company; it means providing human resources, so interactions with employees should not be detrimental to the company's growth. When there is higher management, HR should present issues to them for decision-making, and HR should adhere to those decisions.
Case Study: Resolving Workplace Conflict
A friend working as an Accountant had a difficult situation with the GM of the company who seemed to lack knowledge and only focused on appearances. Eventually, the Accountant resigned. When the higher management received the resignation, the Owner arranged a meeting with the Accountant to discuss the reasons. After hearing about the problems and harassment by the GM, the Owner suggested shifting the Accountant to another company within the group where they could work independently, which the Accountant agreed to.
The new assignment was conveniently close to the Accountant's accommodation, saving them from long hours of travel. HR should maintain a balanced approach and not rigidly adhere to rules at the expense of employee relations.
Every employee may seem useless in your eyes, but from the management's perspective, they can be valuable.