Obeying the law is not the same as doing the right thingWhen I saw the advert for the CIPD conference ‘How to restructure within the law while maintaining positive employee engagement’ I have to say that my blood ran a bit cold. It sounds as though what they are really saying is ‘How to get rid of people and not get sued’. I always feel uncomfortable when the primary focus is on obeying the law. Obeying the law is not the same as doing the right thing. An obvious example of this is Sean Fitzpatrick’s claim that he did nothing illegal by moving his loans to hide them from the auditors. It mightn’t have been strictly illegal (and if not, why not, as many people are asking) but if you feel the need to hide it that’s a very good indication that it’s not the right thing to do. When you look at the CIPD conference brochure I think that my reaction is probably not correct. There seems to be a lot of great stuff that is very much focused on doing the right thing. Presentations will be looking at employment law in terms of natural justice and fair procedures, alternatives to redundancies, being more innovative and effective when redundancy is necessary, advice on survivor syndrome for those left in jobs and the need to support managers who can become burnt out from what may seem like incessant firefighting. There is no doubt that many businesses are facing some very hard choices and many with managers who have never experienced hard economic times. Strong HR support is going to be vital. In a positive light it’s probably a great opportunity for the HR department to prove their worth and for HR to become a more integral part of business strategy. I hope the CIPD conference goes really well and that attendees get a lot of help from it. I just wish they’d called it something else. Add a CommentYour comment will appear once it has been approved. |