HR is no place for learning on the job
Reversing the old adage, in business you can be too skinny.
The recession has found many small businesses shrinking staff, sometimes to a fault.
Mistakes can cost in productivity and in lawsuits.
It is better, say HR professionals, to venture armed with knowledge into the staffing jungle.
Employers of five or 500 need to keep abreast of employment law. As companies continue to downsize due to cost of payroll and benefits or through attrition, human resource relations and management often falls on the shoulders of the business owner or his immediate subordinate. That may work if the person is well-versed in human resources, or it can be a powder keg if the wrong decision is made.
“Things have definitely changed in the workplace,” says attorney Chris Westbrook, who does HR work for Rockland Paramedics and is president of his local Society for Human Resource Management (SRHM) chapter, covering parts of Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties.
“SHRM offers a lot of resources for employers at a very reasonable price,” said Westbrook. “For a $160 a year membership in the national SHRM organization, you can access employee/employer templates, attend webinars and network at local monthly SHRM breakfasts where a guest speaker will focus on a particular topic of interest to those who handle human resources for their companies.”
Westbrook, who is also a volunteer paramedic, said unsalaried volunteers are also covered by employment laws. “When you get into case law, there are things volunteer organizations need to be careful about. You don’t need to be in a salaried position to be discriminated against and file a lawsuit against the agency that rejected you.”
Cathy Pagano, director of continuing and professional education at Pace University, says the college has just begun to offer a new human resources management course using the SHRM learning system online. She said, “In the past, we’ve only offered it in class and students in the tri-state area who just can’t make it to class can take the 11 week program online.”
Add Comment
Popular
News by Topic
- Advertising
- Architecture
- Arts
- Aviation
- Banking
- Colleges & Universities
- Construction
- Credit Unions
- Economic Development
- Education
- Golf
- Green
- Health Care
- Hospitality
- Hospitals
- Insurance
- Law
- Leisure
- Marketing
- Nonprofits
- Real Estate
- Restaurants & Food
- Retail
- Sales
- Schools
- Small Business
- Taxes
- Tourism
- Transportation
- Travel
0 Comments