"Find a way to help her, be a human being!"
"Can we please prioritize the human aspect of the workplace?"
"Gee, imagine if they'd been just a tiny bit empathetic."
"C'mon, be a mensch."
Those were just a few of the LinkedIn comments to this week's post about the employee denied a reasonable accommodation upon her return to work from cancer surgery.
To put it another way, it's time we put the "human" back in human resources.
Too often, we — as lawyers, business owners, HR professionals, and others — become too caught up in what the law permits us to do or forbids us from doing. When you focus too intently on the legalities of a personnel decision, however, you risk losing focus on the humanity of the situation. Employees aren't just employees; they are also people … someone's spouse, parent, child, family, and friend. It's long past time that we start treating them as such.
"Can we please prioritize the human aspect of the workplace?"
"Gee, imagine if they'd been just a tiny bit empathetic."
"C'mon, be a mensch."
Those were just a few of the LinkedIn comments to this week's post about the employee denied a reasonable accommodation upon her return to work from cancer surgery.
To put it another way, it's time we put the "human" back in human resources.
Too often, we — as lawyers, business owners, HR professionals, and others — become too caught up in what the law permits us to do or forbids us from doing. When you focus too intently on the legalities of a personnel decision, however, you risk losing focus on the humanity of the situation. Employees aren't just employees; they are also people … someone's spouse, parent, child, family, and friend. It's long past time that we start treating them as such.