There are a lot of roles which are carried out by the Human Resources Department.
Among different roles carried out by the Human Resources department, facilitating the laying off is a major one.
But can Human Resources fire an employee directly?
The answer depends on events during which an employee was, or employees were sacked.Other than firing employees within the same department, Human Resources Manager generally does not fire the employees of other divisions. However, in cases like winding up a business, shutting down a department or wing of a business and taking attempts for reducing costs, companies tend to fire employees. HR helps in overseeing the legal sides of the termination process.
The human resources manager is supposed to train employees on a range of policies which may include workplace violence, bullying, stress management, labor relations, employee discipline etc. Nevertheless, human resources managers should also be included in the decision making of terminating an employee as in some cases the decision of laying off may be stopped due to having legal implications on the whole organization. The consultation with Human Resources Manager before firing an employee enables the decision-maker to see and understand the legal aspects of the decision and thus, helps to make the right decision.
In some cases, Human Resources Managers let the employees know about them being sacked. However, in most cases, the department head or the manager informs the employee in the presence of a human resources manager. In this way, the HR representative works as a neutral mediator in severing the employer-employee relationship.
So, other than some conditions like; winding up the company or cost-cutting efforts, HR Manager is not the decision-maker of firing an employee outside of his/ her department.
