(HR) Human Resources Module Overview

Human Resources Module Overview

Introduction

image of people in professional dress captioned human resourcesPossibly the most complex management area in any company is human resource management. The area covers everything from developing a plan to staff the company, to recruiting and hiring employees, to managing their benefits and retirement plans. Further complicating matters is the fact that employment laws are complicated and innumerable. It is up to human resource managers to keep up with the law, and establish policies and procedures within the company to make sure the laws are obeyed. It also falls to the HR manager to discipline employees and to process employee complaints. This module will offer an overview of human resource management and a glimpse of its complexity.

Essential Questions

  • What types of crime generally affect business and what can business do to help deter them?
  • What specific legal areas commonly affect personal and business relationships?
  • What legal requirements apply to starting and running a business?
  • How can I go about recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees for a business?
  • What local, state, and federal laws impact small business?

Key Terms

  1. Larceny - Theft of personal property
  2. Burglary - Entry into a building illegally with intent to commit a crime
  3. Robbery - The felonious taking of personal property from someone using force or the threat of force.
  4. Fraud - Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain
  5. Embezzlement - fraudulent conversion of another's property by a person who is in a position of trust, such as an agent or employee
  6. Arson -  the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property
  7. Money laundering - concealing the source of illegally gotten money
  8. Contract - a  written or spoken agreement
  9. Harassment - commonly understood as behavior intended to disturb or upset
  10. Discrimination - The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, esp. on the grounds of race, age, or sex
  11. License - A permit from an authority to own or use something
  12. Permit - official document giving someone authorization to do something
  13. Patent - government authority to an individual or organization conferring a right or title
  14. Copyright - exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record
  15. Literary, artistic trademark - A symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product
  16. Bankruptcy - Legal procedure for liquidating a business or property owned by an individual which cannot fully pay its debts out of its current assets

Module Minute

The economic definition of entrepreneur is one who takes the other three factors of production, land, capital, and labor and organizes them to make an economic profit. Of the three factors, the task of organizing the human factor, labor, is the most complex. A visit to the Society of Human Resource Management website gives a brief overview of what human resource managers have to deal with: recruiting, hiring, and training employees is just the beginning. They also must manage their compensation and benefits.  HR managers are responsible for making sure companies are obeying all laws regarding hiring practices and treatment of employees, as well as follow the proper protocol for employee complaints and dismissal.  Depending on the size of the company, a human resource manager may manage all of these or may specialize in a specific area such as benefits.

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