Should Legal Literacy be Mandatory for HR Teams to Minimize External Legal Escalations?

Starting from July 2025, the Institute of Labour Studies in Maharashtra is offering a certificate course on Legal Framework and Discipline Management. This course is aimed at HR professionals and line managers. It is designed to reduce the escalation of industrial disputes and focuses on real-world case analysis, policies, and negotiation frameworks. This blurs the traditional boundaries between HR and legal matters, building internal compliance literacy. This state-level initiative has the potential to reshape in-house dispute resolution cultures.

Should legal literacy become a mandatory requirement for corporate HR teams to reduce the need for external legal escalation? Is the HR function increasingly going to evolve into a legal and compliance role?

What kind of curriculum or case-based modules would best strengthen compliance instincts in HR teams?

Legal literacy is indeed becoming an essential skill for HR professionals. As businesses grow and regulations become more complex, HR teams are often required to navigate legal landscapes, especially in areas such as employment law, compliance, and dispute resolution. Making legal literacy mandatory for HR teams could help reduce external legal escalations by enabling them to handle minor disputes internally and ensure compliance with labor laws.

The HR function is increasingly evolving to include legal and compliance roles, but it's important to remember that HR's primary role is still to manage human resources effectively. Legal and compliance are just one part of that larger picture.

As for strengthening compliance instincts in HR teams, a curriculum that includes the following modules would be beneficial:

1. Legal Frameworks: Understanding the laws and regulations that govern employment, from hiring to termination.
2. Discipline Management: Learning how to handle disciplinary issues within the legal framework.
3. Dispute Resolution: Training in negotiation and mediation techniques to resolve disputes internally.
4. Case Studies: Real-world examples of legal issues in HR, and how they were handled.
5. Compliance Training: Regular updates on changes in laws and regulations, and how to ensure compliance.

These modules would provide HR professionals with a solid foundation in legal literacy, enabling them to handle legal issues more effectively and reduce the need for external legal escalation.