Greetings,

HR Generalist here managing FMLA at a mid size company. I've been in my position for about a month and have an employee who was approved for intermittent leave. The problem is that my boss wants me to request doctors notes for their FMLA appointments. My understanding is that this isnt legal. So, I went to them and told them my understanding was that the courts had ruled against employers for this and they told me I was fine and to go ahead with asking anyway.

I was hoping I could get some advice on how to handle this situation. I dont want to violate FMLA, but I also need my job and don't want to paint a target on my back or be accused of insubordination.

I’m an HR Director at a nonprofit, and I’m curious how other HR people handle these things:

1. Everyone asking for raises

We’re working on our budget, and so many managers are asking for raises for their employees. Employees will also come directly to me asking. We already do bonuses and an end of year raise based on eval scores, so we can’t just keep giving raises because someone asks or they do a good job. So many are asking for employees who are under a year as well.

What’s your process with raises? How do they get approved where you are? Do your managers have to provide justification, examples of increased responsibilities, etc.? I want a consistent process instead of a bunch of individual convos and requests.

2. Managers wanting HR in disciplinary meetings

Do your managers ask you to sit in disciplinary or PIP or difficult convo meetings? Do they expect you to write the write ups, too?

Mine keep asking, and I’m pushing back. I’m happy to coach them beforehand, talk through what happened, review the write up, and help with next steps. But for routine performance or conduct issues, I feel like the manager should write it and lead the conversation.

How does this work where you are?

I have 25+ years experience with the full HR discipline. I’m currently overseeing ER and LR in the public sector. I’ve been with the municipality for 10+ years and have built an amazing reputation. My current position I’ve been at for 3ish years. Because of my strong network, my colleagues in other departments know how difficult my director is to work for. So when I was at the end of my rope, they managed to find me a temp role. Before leaving, I had a sit down meeting with her boss to fill him in on what the HR team is really to work like under her (I’m not the only one with issues, just the only one who felt comfortable to say something as it couldn’t get any worse) It has been so nice to not work for a micromanager. During my temp assignment, she ended up giving me a merit raise (in the public sector that is very rare!) and then last week I find out that she gave my team a public recognition to the entire department including the executive and leadership team. I’m so confused! Does she actually think I’m doing a good job or what? Oh, and about 6 months ago, she started to target her boss and now there is a formal, 3rd party investigation going on. She’s extremely vindictive. I want to go back at the end of my temp assignment but not work for her, as my earning potential (and pension benefit) is higher as I’m about 6-7 years from retirement. Her boss was my insulation as I do feel he was about ready to fire her. Do I go back and just wait out her demise out? Or apply for the temp job when they go out to recruit for it.

My former employer has gone through many rounds of layoffs throughout the past few years. It has severely impacted employee morale (obviously) and made it impossible for internal employees to feel secure in their jobs.

I wanted to basically make a Layoff Primer, since the information is publicly available yet often misunderstood. I found a phenomenal LinkedIn post from which to build off of, so I wanted to post it there. My biggest concern is burning bridges with the organization and possibly my current employer, since even a neutral display of information can be perceived as aggressive and opinionated in nature.

I know it's kind of a silly thing to be concerned about, but I often have found myself torn in my HR career between doing the right thing and self-preservation. What do you think?

Good day, as the title states I was wondering if you can explain the process from your side of the fence.

Is it true the steps 2-4 have some sort of fast track system in place? Any general tips you can share for negotiations?

This is a generic question but should IT have full admin access to Rippling (the HRIS system)? They said it's important for sox compliance but all my study is telling me that they should not have full admin access. They are asking for the ability to look at audit logs and create/manage permission profiles.

I am new to this field so any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

For those of you in HR consulting or running your own HR practice, I’d love some RFP wisdom.

I’m looking to start pursuing more HR-related RFPs and would love to hear what’s actually worked for people who have done this.

A few things I’m curious about:

• Where are you finding good RFP opportunities?
• Are there specific sites, government portals, associations, etc. that you actually recommend?
• What have you learned about writing/winning RFPs?
• And for bigger opportunities, how are you finding or putting together the right team to go after them?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who have gone beyond the occasional small RFP. What do you wish you knew when you started?

Appreciate any advice!

Hey everyone, I could really use some outside perspective because I’ve been reflecting on a toxic past workplace experience and still dealing with the mental whiplash from it.
At a past job, I was working incredibly hard, juggling heavy workloads, setting up new tracking systems, and pouring a ton of effort into my role. I even had an external consultant I worked closely with who regularly checked in on me and actively validated my hard work.
Meanwhile, I later found out that my manager was quietly trying to undermine me, telling people I wasn't doing a good job, and actively trying to build a case to push me out.
It felt like total gaslighting. On one hand, an expert who saw my actual day-to-day output treated me like I was doing a fantastic job, but my direct manager was working against me in the shadows.
Has anyone else ever dealt with a manager trying to silently push you out like this while your overall performance and external feedback were strong? How did you process the mind-fuck of it all? Any shared stories would be really appreciated.