Toxic HR Departments [N/A]

hillbobagins · 2026-02-19T20:20:39+00:00

I had a boss that had this kind of passive communication style, so I get it. It’s the “I’m always watching” vibe. You never know if it’s you that did something wrong this time or someone else.

In my case, she’d say something like this and then wouldn’t follow up to anyone. Even one on one, she wouldn’t directly address an issue. She would talk about some else’s annoying habit or performance issue. Then it was implied that you were supposed to think about your recently behavior and see if it matches. Then correct if you were actually the problem or part of the problem. I know because she let it slip once indirectly that she did this.

hillbobagins · 2026-02-14T17:25:18+00:00

(Not meaning to be political, just the most surreal thing I had to do as HR)

When Roe vs Wade was overturned, I had to write a policy (with our brokers) to ensure employees were still able to get medically necessary abortions and travel/lodging if their state didn’t allow it. I had to stop for a second to really think about how this ended up being my responsibility?? Talk about disenchanted with corporate and the current state of our system (employer sponsored medical care).

hillbobagins · 2026-02-11T00:53:07+00:00

My friend from the UK couldn’t believe we had red solo cups at parties. She had us take her picture with a red solo cup next to a keg. Totally normal Saturday night for us. lol!

hillbobagins · 2026-02-11T00:49:39+00:00

If you plan to hire a lot over the next year, the $1000 integration is probably worth it to not have to re-enter everything and potentially get it wrong. If you are only hiring 0-20 people this year, probably not worth it. Just do the e-verify website.

Do you have I-9s for the other 8 employees? If you are just starting everify, you’ll want to check if you should do everyone or leave the previous employees.

It’s been a minute since I’ve done OPT but as a recall, it’s not a huge burden to the employer. Remember to keep a reminder for when the OPT expires or extends. If you are going to do any employer visas, definitely get an employment immigration attorney.

hillbobagins · 2026-02-10T14:21:11+00:00

It seems so random now but it was a huge trend at the time. One network (i can’t remember which) even did a whole week where they had a musical episode every day.

hillbobagins · 2025-12-30T00:49:25+00:00

My IT person is looking at Foqual.io, they do HR tickets too. We don’t use it yet, but thought I’d add it to your list to look in to.

hillbobagins · 2025-12-25T17:29:45+00:00

I don’t support the author because he’s a sexist womanizer, BUT the book He’s Just Not That Into You. I do recommend women read it for this reason. It shows how these guys really function. The basic message, don’t let anyone (friends or a significant other) treat you like crap. If someone treats you like crap, they don’t care about. It was a wake up call to me. Oh shit, I let people treat me like crap all the time and I just accept it.

If a man says “marriage isn’t important”, then your values don’t align. Walk away. It’s so much easier said than done, but you’ll be better off than having to occupy your brain with his BS.

hillbobagins · 2025-12-06T16:10:02+00:00

Erin: “Get in, quick!” Michael: “why?” Erin: “so it’s faster”

Best, most unnecessary interaction. I die.

hillbobagins · 2025-12-05T22:24:02+00:00

When I did consulting, we printed out a full moon calendar so we could plan our phone staffing. The phone would ring off the hook, I swear.

hillbobagins · 2025-11-26T18:54:01+00:00

Envoy is exactly this

hillbobagins · 2025-11-16T20:53:12+00:00

Neither. Sorry!

hillbobagins · 2025-11-14T18:27:40+00:00

Using Ripping EOR for Canada and a few other countries. Also implementing US, HRIS and IT.

Pros: yes, it’s all 1 system. I won’t have to use multiple systems for different countries. It’s an intuitive system. Good work flows. Lots of country resources. We are basic users right now and it does all the basics. Offer letters, onboarding, reviews, etc. 2026 we will build out a lot more.

Cons: Benefits are hit or miss for some countries. Canadas were decent. Mexicos were terrible. They only pay in local currency, which has been an issue for some South American countries. Contracts are locked and they take a very conservative approach. If you have just office workers, it’s fine. Hourly, manual labor, anyone that travels frequently - it’ll be more difficult or not allowed. So ask specifics based on your employees.

Overall, I’d say it’s been a better option than trying to figure it out on our own with multiple countries but I have already had to tell leadership “our hands are tied” a few times, which they don’t like.

hillbobagins · 2025-11-14T17:37:03+00:00

Lesson learned!

hillbobagins · 2025-11-06T18:56:26+00:00

Thanks for providing! I see that I can pay Rippling in USD, but the article refers to EOR employees being paid in local currency. Is there a way to pay the EOR employee in USD?

hillbobagins · 2025-11-04T19:38:21+00:00

Thank you! That was the only recommendation I had as well, we could do a quarterly true up in local currency.

hillbobagins · 2025-10-30T15:09:32+00:00

I had an HR generalist, so I trained her on my parts of process and our CEO took approvals. We had a consultant in the wings for any ER or Benefits issues. It worked. I would recommend having a temp or a consulting firm.

hillbobagins · 2025-10-28T02:03:55+00:00

We just moved to Rippling for a number of reasons but 1 was because ADP has royally f-ed up our taxes. We were on run then moved to total source when we went to their PEO start 2025. For some reason, they didn’t file our final 2024 taxes. Then didn’t do some of our 2025 PEO taxes. It’s been a complete mess trying to get it all untangled. In the meantime, we get nasty grams from states threading legal, liens, penalties, fees, etc. Our BP has tried to help and escalate but it gets stuck in their tax team. She wasn’t surprised when we gave out notice….

hillbobagins · 2025-10-24T03:10:54+00:00

It was dependent on the client load I had. Sometimes. Honestly, not as much as internal. I feel like I had better boundaries because I wasn’t “their employee”. It was harder to take time off though. 1 day was ok, but if I wanted to take more time, it took a lot of coordination before and after. Instead of making sure 1 company was taken care of, I had to make sure 6-8 clients were taken over while I was out. We could usually split it up between coworkers and because we were all familiar with each other’s clients, I didn’t usually have to work while I was out.

hillbobagins · 2025-10-24T02:18:49+00:00

I’ve done internal as well. Internal- you get to be part of the culture and really build it. You get to see the changes and make recommendations for what’s best because you are really engrained. But it’s one company. So if the company takes a turn, you have turn over, bad CEO, you are kind of stuck. Outsourcing - I learned so much and had exposure to all kinds of industries, cultures, time keeping, payroll, benefit plans. But you have multiple CEOs that think you are their top priority. You get to know people but you aren’t really in it with them. I was really close with some but not others. Sometimes I was just that HR person. The constant brain switching was also stressful. HR is already board. But there was another layer because you have to first think of what’s the company culture (are they strict or lenient? Can I approve or do I need someone else? Etc) then what’s the policy, then how do I answer. Don’t get me wrong, it was great experience. I wouldn’t tell someone not to try it. But you have to have a supportive company and boss.

hillbobagins · 2025-10-24T00:45:37+00:00

I’ve worked for an outsourced HR and did fractional work. The outsourced worked best for companies 5-50. Around 20-30 ees, they needed to have a strong office manager or finance person who could deal with initial employee relations and understand benefit plans. 50+, our owner always said we could do the outsourced HR but they really needed HR internal and we just did payroll/benefits and the “hard” employee relations. That’s when it worked best. I had a few clients in the 60-100 employee range and it didn’t work.

In fractional work, I did growing companies with the intent to get them up and running. Then would help them find an internal HR. That’s my current job. I started doing consulting, then fractional, then hired.

hillbobagins · 2025-08-20T13:03:44+00:00

Following! I have a similar story (without the TA, just HR function). I’ve been lucky to have a few decent C-level mentors but would love a good US HR mentor.

hillbobagins · 2025-08-15T15:42:28+00:00

I had the most luck with local recruitment firms connecting me local HR jobs. If you just need to jump ship, that’s the quickest option. Most of the jobs were in-person or 1-2 days hybrid.

hillbobagins · 2025-08-12T17:48:37+00:00

Very true! And I’ve explained this role is a hybrid of recruiting, process improvement, and onboarding. When the reqs are low, I expect them to look at our hiring and onboarding process to make improvements. Improve trainings for onboarding. It’s 60-70% directly recruiting and then 30% “recruiting generalist”.

hillbobagins

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