Law has a very important role to play in what any HR manager does in a day, though it may not be always apparent. You actually require a good hold of different laws starting from the recruitment, to their onboarding, mandatory paper work, different benefits such as PF, ESI, bonus, gratuity etc.
Also you will need to ensure that the decision of dismissal is taken after proper disciplinary proceedings. If you do not follow proper procedures, the company may have to pay compensation for wrongful termination or reinstate the employee with back wages in some cases.
In fact, as you go up the chain, legal knowledge becomes indispensable. Let’s say you are drafting a leave policy for a company, and fail to check the relevant Shops and Establishments Act of the state, you will almost certainly get it wrong. The consequence can be paying heavy fines by the company if an inspector comes visiting, a potentially negative impact on the brand and embarrassment in front of other employees.
Also if you talk about different functions of HR such as Recruitment, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal, Grievance handling etc then you will notice that a part, small to big, is played by the respective managers as well. But labour laws are something which other people usually don’t have much of an idea and if you make this strong then this will give you a lot of importance and growth in that company.
This is a must in Human Resource Management