Makewetalknow

In this day and age, information is extremely powerful. To succeed in the workplace, an employee must sometimes have the necessary knowledge. Any amount of information is valuable because it can be used to solve a particular problem. If you are unaware of certain workplace realities, you will eventually fall for them. In this article, I will discuss five methods that Human Resources uses to cheat employees out of money, rights, and even their jobs.

1.   Open Door Policy

If you look through your employee handbook, you will most likely find that Human Resources has an “open door policy.” Most people interpret this to mean that HR is available to listen to concerns and maintain confidentiality. In reality, this is often false.

Many employees have reported issues to HR in confidence, only to find out later that their complaint was shared with the person they were complaining about. Some are issued a formal warning shortly after, followed by termination for vague or unrelated reasons.

The truth is that many organizations use the open door policy as an early warning system. It enables them to recognize dissatisfaction before it spreads. You are also not immune to retaliation if your complaint is not legally protected. Human Resources is aware of this and takes appropriate action.

This does not imply that you should never report issues. It means that you should understand why you’re reporting, how to do it correctly, and how to reduce the risks.

2.  Workplace Investigations

Imagine you report a workplace harassment to HR. They listen, make notes, and promise to “launch an investigation.” Many employees interpret this as a fair, neutral process. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

A company does not have the same level of due process rights as a court. Their investigation is not intended to protect you; it is intended to protect the company. HR’s job is to gather information that will protect the employer rather than you from liability.

This could lead to many scenarios during the investigation. Notes taken during the meeting may never be used again. Witnesses who agree with your story may never be interviewed. Instead, HR may work quietly with your supervisor to document performance issues that can then be used against you.

When the investigation is completed, the final report frequently states that “no evidence of wrongdoing was found,” even if HR believes otherwise. They will not write anything that could harm the company. Nevertheless, you must take part in any investigation. If you refuse, a jury may conclude that you were the problem. Always consider the consequences of your actions in the future.

3.  HR Reps Are Not Always Truthful

In most cases, there is no reason for HR to tell you a lie. There are some HR professionals who are completely truthful and honest. However, they are not legally required to tell you the truth. So, when things get tough, you can rely on them to protect their pay cheque at your expense. Common areas where HR may lie include:

1. write‑ups
2. performance improvement plans
3. claims of verbal warnings
4. accusations of insubordination
5. attendance records

These lies often build up until they justify termination. And because defamation laws have little weight in employment disputes, HR can get away with it unless you have a skilled lawyer who can point out inconsistencies.

Why does this happen? Because telling the truth may cost the company money. HR’s loyalty is to the employer, not to the employees.

4.  The Hidden Arbitration Agreement

One of the most damaging HR tactics is the arbitration agreement, which is frequently buried in the employee handbook or among onboarding documents. I will explain how it works.

Remember when you accepted the job and were given a lot of paperwork to sign? This is known as an arbitration agreement. Arbitration agreements are usually found in the employee handbook. Keep in mind that 20-40% of new employees are required to sign an arbitration agreement. If you refused to sign it, most HR departments would most likely withdraw the job offer. It is one thing to sign an agreement, but quite another to read its contents. Unknowingly, most employees sign the arbitration agreement by agreeing to the terms in the employee handbook on the acknowledgement page.

What exactly does an arbitration entail? Arbitration agreements require the parties who signed them to settle any disputes through binding arbitration rather than in court before a judge and/or jury. This implies that a company can only be sued in a private arbitration proceeding. This type of agreement requires you to fight for your rights in a secret, binding judicial process, and if you lose, you are not entitled to an appeal. This means you cannot sue the company in public court.

If you initiate arbitration proceedings, the arbitrator, who is usually a retired judge or, in some cases, a former defence attorney, takes on the role of judge and jury for the case. The majority of these arbitrators are paid hundreds of dollars per hour by the same company to act as neutral adjudicators. The same arbitrator who earns thousands of dollars for the company you’re suing is unable to render a decision in your favour. 

Let’s say you have a solid case against the company you want to sue. When a case is forced into arbitration, the settlement value is significantly lower than if it had been resolved through the regular court system. In reality, it benefits the company but hurts you. 

Most employment lawyers agree that arbitration significantly reduces the value of a case. When you look at it on a national scale, you’ll notice that arbitration costs employees billions of dollars each year. However, this is far from the worst part. Many arbitration agreements forbid you from suing a company on a class action basis. This means that you cannot file a class action lawsuit against the company. 

What significance does this have? Let’s say your previous employer failed to compensate you for $7,000 in unpaid overtime. To be honest, $7,000 is a lot of money, but it will not cover the cost of hiring a lawyer and fighting the company. The costs of that case will quickly outweigh its value. Even on a contingency basis, those minor claims are not worthwhile to pursue. However, if you and your lawyer can persuade one hundred or more people to sue, the case becomes financially viable.

The significance of this statement is that if your employment contract includes an arbitration clause, minor claims will be difficult to pursue. This means that the company you are suing will be able to commit theft without consequences. 

Every year, millions of employees around the world lose billions of dollars due to arbitration. Arbitration is unquestionably the worst tactic HR and employers use to steal employee wages and reduce the size of harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims.

5. Job Title Manipulation and Misclassification

This strategy is widely used and rarely understood by employees. HR frequently manipulates job titles and classifications to save the company money, sometimes thousands of dollars per employee each year. Here’s how it works:

• Employees are given inflated titles such as “Coordinator,” “Specialist,” or “Manager,” even though they have no managerial authority.
• HR then designates them as exempt from overtime laws.
• The employee works between 50 and 60 hours per week for the same salary.
• The company refuses to pay overtime, benefits, or higher wages.

This is one of the biggest forms of wage theft in modern workplaces. It is legal on paper, but it is extremely unethical in practice. Most employees don’t understand classification laws, so they never question why their “promotion” came with more work but no additional pay.

Misclassification allows companies to quietly extract more labour for less money, and HR is the gatekeeper of that system.

Conclusion

Please do not misunderstand my point. I do not believe that all Human Resources personnel behave in this manner. There are good people in human resources, and I hope your company employs one of them. However, HR departments’ motivations are frequently misaligned with employee interests.

The five tactics outlined here are only the beginning. There are many more ways HR can cheat employees out of money, rights, and fair treatment. The more informed you are, the better prepared you will be to defend yourself in the workplace.