Improve Your HR

Is Beer at Work a Problem, or Is It a Sign of Something Bigger?

Evil HR Lady — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:14:10 +0000

I’m the HR manager, and I report to the company president. I’ve already talked to him about the Friday 4 p.m. happy hours he hosts in the office. I told him I don’t think it’s appropriate and that it could create real liability issues — especially if someone leaves the parking lot impaired. He basically brushed me off and kept doing it. Then, this past Friday, we had a company tailgate on the production floor at 11:30 a.m., and he brought … non-alcoholic beer.

So now I’m wondering — am I overreacting here, or is this still a problem? He didn’t hold the happy hour, so maybe he’ll stop drinking altogether? This isn’t the only issue. He tends to undermine me, leaves me out of important meetings and generally doesn’t seem interested in anything I have to say. I like my job, but I’m really struggling with him as a boss — and I’ve started looking for other opportunities. Am I making too big a deal out of this, or would it bother you too?

To read my answer, click here: Is Beer at Work a Problem, or Is It a Sign of Something Bigger?

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Chick-fil-A Franchise Sued by the EEOC Over a Religious Accommodation. Here Are 5 Lessons for Employers

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:20:17 +0000

A Chick-fil-A franchise is being sued by the EEOC for allegedly refusing a religious accommodation for a Christian employee. Given Chick-fil-A’s reputation as a faith-based company, that’s probably the last lawsuit you’d expect to see.

Chick-fil-A famously closes on Sundays, a nod back to founder S. Truett Cathy’s devout Christianity and his desire to ensure everyone had a day of rest. The company still sticks to that even though Cathy died in 2014, and people even jokingly refer to the restaurant as “the Lord’s chicken.”

According to a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a particular franchisee, Hatch Trick, Inc, denied a religious accommodation to an employee.

According to the EEOC’s press release, the employee told Hatch Trick in her employment interview that due to her religious faith as a member of the United Church of God, which observes the Sabbath on Saturday, she would be unable to work on Saturday.

To keep reading, click here: Chick-fil-A Franchise Sued by the EEOC Over a Religious Accommodation. Here Are 5 Lessons for Employers

The post Chick-fil-A Franchise Sued by the EEOC Over a Religious Accommodation. Here Are 5 Lessons for Employers appeared first on Improve Your HR.

‘Democracy Dies in HR’ Is Great Clickbait—and Bad Management Analysis

Evil HR Lady — Wed, 27 May 2026 11:09:14 +0000

Amanda Taub’s New York Times piece, Actually, Democracy Dies in HR, centers on the idea that it doesn’t take a whole bunch of evil people to destroy a country, but rather just a few evil leaders at the top and a whole bunch of dummies and paperwork, and voila, the end of democracy. Clearly, the headline states, this is the fault of the Human Resources department.

The article doesn’t state any of that—in fact, HR isn’t even mentioned in the article. It’s simply clickbait because, as The New York Times is fond of telling us, HR makes people miserable, and is not your friend, anyway. And it worked. I clicked because of the headline.

What the reader is supposed to surmise is that all those bad things are the same things that HR does. For instance, Taub writes:

“It turns out that would-be authoritarians don’t need to staff their regimes with ideological true believers, offer extreme enticements or impose draconian punishments in order to make successful power grabs. They just need to figure out how to target their ideal labor pool: the frustrated and mediocre.”

To keep reading, click here: ‘Democracy Dies in HR’ Is Great Clickbait—and Bad Management Analysis

The post ‘Democracy Dies in HR’ Is Great Clickbait—and Bad Management Analysis appeared first on Improve Your HR.

Your HR Person Isn’t Slowing You Down. They’re Telling You the Truth Nobody Else Will

Evil HR Lady — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:00:46 +0000

A lot of people dislike HR. Founders sometimes feel like an HR person is a weight around their neck–always saying no or objecting to new ideas. It’s not because the HR person wants your business to fail. On the contrary, they want your business to succeed.

That success, however, can mean facing some hard truths. Seeing things as they really are, rather than with the rose colored glasses that many people wear, can be a benefit to your company.

Here are five things that your HR person is probably doing, which may seem annoying but are a blessing to your business. Take these warnings seriously.

Naming Reality. This is harder than it seems. What is really going on—not what you wish would be happening or what the ideal reality looks like. So your HR manager may say something like this:

To keep reading, click here: Your HR Person Isn’t Slowing You Down. They’re Telling You the Truth Nobody Else Will

The post Your HR Person Isn’t Slowing You Down. They’re Telling You the Truth Nobody Else Will appeared first on Improve Your HR.

Save 35 Percent on AIHR

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 19 May 2026 08:10:30 +0000

If you were thinking of getting training from AIHR now is the time.

From now until Friday, May 28, at midnight Pacific time, you can save 35 percent on AIHR courses. Evil HR Lady readers normally get a 10 percent discount but because it’s HR Week there’s an additional 25 percent.

Just follow this link: https://www.aihr.com/partner/evilhrlady/

Q: Do I need a special HR Week code or link?

A: No. The 25% discount is automatically applied at checkout. Learners simply need to first claim your partner discount via your partner page.

Q: When does the HR Week discount start and end?

A: The sale runs from May 18th until May 28th, 2026, ending at midnight (Pacific Time). Partners may begin sharing the promotion only from May 18th onward.

Q: Does the discount also apply to installment plans?

A: Yes. Installment options (monthly or annual) for the Full Academy License are also discounted — the 25% applies to each installment.

Q: Is the promotion available globally?

A: Yes. AIHR training is 100% online and available worldwide. The discount can be redeemed from any region.

Q: Can learners preview the course syllabi before enrolling?

A: Yes. All syllabi can be downloaded here: https://www.aihr.com/download-syllabus/ for easy comparison.

4. Support, Guarantees, and Learning Experience

Q: Is there a money-back guarantee?

A: Yes! The 60-day money-back guarantee applies to all courses, certificate programs, and the Full Academy License.

Q: When do I need to start my training?

A: All AIHR training programs are 100% online and self-paced so that you can learn from the comfort of your home and complete the course on your own schedule.

So, if you’ve been thinking about AIHR, now is the time! https://www.aihr.com/partner/evilhrlady/

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Beware of losing the rule you hate

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 18 May 2026 14:44:41 +0000

“Chris and Jan have broken a Swiss law. What law is it?”

This is a question I use all the time for an improv prompt. The audience then suggests a law and the scene begins.

Now, while Switzerland has all the normal laws about not stealing and not murdering and not speeding (they really mean that last one–there are speed cameras EVERYWHERE), the audience always picks the Swiss laws that we find funny. For example:

No recycling on Sunday
Garbage cannot go out until 7:00 PM the night before
You have to shake hands with everyone when you walk into a room. (There was a court case about this, by the way, involving a teacher and male students who wouldn’t shake her hand.)
Absolutely no crossing the road against the light.

The scene is always hilarious and fun to play.

But here’s a bit of a reality bite. We make fun of these “silly rules” but they are also the reason people love living here.

Our streets are clean because people take care of our garbage. People can live next to the recycling collection spots because they aren’t disturbed at all hours of the night and weekend by the clanking of bottles.

And I think this is true about a lot of things. The little things that make a country or a company attractive are the very things that people say are silly.

Remove the overly stiff rules and you run the risk of losing the very thing that made your company a great place to work.

This is not me arguing that we should put an old Swiss lady with a cane in charge of every business, allowing her to smack anyone that gets out of hand. But it is me arguing that before you get rid of a policy or practice, ask yourself what that policy or practice leads to and say, “Are we ready to lose this result?”

I can laugh about the overly rigid rules of when you can put your garbage out, but I certainly don’t want to live in a place where people put their garbage out all the time.

(The notes on these garbage bags say, “Please observe the designated times for putting out garbage for collection! Collection days in this neighborhood: Monday and Thursday. Put out garbage the evening before.)

The post Beware of losing the rule you hate appeared first on Improve Your HR.

Get Things Done with Claude for HR

Evil HR Lady — Thu, 14 May 2026 09:44:20 +0000

You have more HR work than hours in the day. Leadership keeps saying “just use AI.” Easy to say — but which tool, used how, with what guardrails?

I’m running a webinar to answer exactly that, and I’m offering it to this group at $39.

Monday, 18 May

12:00 -1:30 PM Eastern

11:00-12:30 PM Central

10:00-11:30 AM Mountain

9:00-10:30 AM Pacific

**Get Real HR Work Done with Claude: Prompts, Pitfalls, and Practical Use Cases**

If you’ve tried ChatGPT and wonder whether Claude is worth a second look — or you’ve heard Claude is “the safer one” and want to know what that actually means in practice — this is for you.

What we’ll cover:

Writing job descriptions, performance reviews, and PIPs that hold up under scrutiny
Planning difficult conversations and rewriting risky manager emails before they go out
Reviewing long documents (handbooks, investigations) for risks, inconsistencies, and themes
Turning survey data, exit interviews, and notes into something actionable
Where Claude gets you in trouble — bias, hallucinations, confident nonsense
Side-by-side Claude vs. ChatGPT outputs, so you can judge for yourself

This is a practical session, not a sales pitch. You’ll leave knowing whether Claude belongs in your workflow, when it’s safer than ChatGPT (and when it isn’t), and how to use either tool without creating a legal, ethical, or reputational mess.

Hope to see you there.

Suzanne

(The Evil HR Lady)

What You’ll Learn

How to Use Claude for High-Stakes HR Work

Write and revise job descriptions, performance reviews, and PIPs that hold up under scrutiny
Plan difficult conversations and rewrite risky manager communications

How to Use Claude for Analysis (Where It Actually Shines)

Review long documents (handbooks, investigations) and extract risks, inconsistencies, and key themes
Compare policies or contracts and clearly identify what changed

How to Work Faster Without Losing Control

Turn survey data, exit interviews, and notes into actionable insights
Use Projects to standardize tone, policies, and internal frameworks

Where Claude Can Get You in Trouble

Bias, hallucinations, and “confident nonsense”
What you should never trust it to do without review

Claude vs. ChatGPT—When It Actually Matters

Side-by-side outputs so you can evaluate the difference yourself

Why You Should Attend

If you’re an HR pro who’s overwhelmed, curious, or already using AI but wondering if you’re using the right one, this session will give you a clear-eyed view — not a sales pitch — of what Claude can and can’t do. Examine

Whether Claude is worth adding to your workflow
When it’s safer than ChatGPT—and when it’s not
How to use either tool without creating legal, ethical, or reputational risk

Who Should Attend?

HR professionals and business partners who write, draft, coach, and review for a living
Managers and supervisors already using AI and wanting to use it better
Small business owners and executives doing HR work without a dedicated HR team
Compliance officers and in-house counsel assessing AI risk in people processes
Operations and team leads looking to cut hours of writing and admin
Anyone who has wondered:
- “Is Claude actually different from ChatGPT, or is that just marketing?”
- “Can I trust this thing with sensitive employee information?”
- “What happens if it gets the law wrong?”
- “Will this make me sound like a robot?”

About Our Speaker

Suzanne Lucas, known worldwide as the Evil HR Lady, brings a refreshingly candid, no-nonsense perspective to the often-confusing world of HR and employment law.

A former corporate HR leader turned writer, speaker, and consultant, Suzanne has spent more than two decades helping organizations navigate the tricky intersection of compliance, common sense, and compassion. She’s written thousands of articles on workplace issues for publications like Inc., CBS News, The New York Times, and Comstock’s, earning a loyal following of HR professionals, managers, and employees who value her clear-eyed, practical advice.

With a gift for translating complex laws into plain English — and a sense of humor about the chaos that comes with managing people — Suzanne’s webinars and keynotes are equal parts enlightening and entertaining.

The post Get Things Done with Claude for HR appeared first on Improve Your HR.

Why 80 Percent of Workers Claim They Were ‘Catfished’ (and How it Costs You $50,000)

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 12 May 2026 10:39:54 +0000

A Monster survey found that 80 percent of US workers felt their employers had catfished them. Career or job catfishing is a dumb game employers play where they lie to candidates. It’s also called “bait and switch,” and it’s costing your company.

And the answer for your company could be yes.

What is career catfishing?

While definitions vary (as it appears to be a fairly new term), it boils down to employers misrepresenting the job they are offering.

Right now, remote work is a big area where companies catfish. They advertise a position as remote or hybrid when it is not.

But it can come in many forms. For instance:

To keep reading, click here: Why 80 Percent of Workers Claim They Were ‘Catfished’ (and How it Costs You $50,000)

The post Why 80 Percent of Workers Claim They Were ‘Catfished’ (and How it Costs You $50,000) appeared first on Improve Your HR.

AI Resume Screeners Have a Favorite Candidate: Other AI

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 05 May 2026 10:55:54 +0000

If your hiring managers and recruiters are using AI tools to evaluate resumes, you’ll hire the best robots out there.

Okay, so there are humans attached to the resumes, but a new study from Jiannan Xu (University of Maryland), Gujie Li (National University of Singapore), and Jane Yi Jiang (The Ohio State University) found that AI prefers AI-written resumes over human-written resumes. And if you’re using the same large language model to evaluate a resume that was used to write the resume, the preference increases.

This is a problem for your business. Here’s why.

Resumes are the standard method of evaluating candidates

But we know that resumes are a pretty terrible way of understanding a candidate’s skills. Writing a good resume that accurately portrays your skills is quite difficult. A good quality resume writer can help you do that, but most people cannot afford that. AI does an excellent job of writing a resume to match the keywords the recruiter is likely looking for.

To keep reading, click here: AI Resume Screeners Have a Favorite Candidate: Other AI

The post AI Resume Screeners Have a Favorite Candidate: Other AI appeared first on Improve Your HR.

The Reason You Can’t Break Rules

Evil HR Lady — Mon, 04 May 2026 16:17:55 +0000

A highly sought-after position opened up. The manager over the position was new to managing and insisted that the position required a specific certification.

I informed her that many people had successfully done this job without this certification and that we had several internal candidates who were more than capable of doing it and lacked the certification.

She insisted. She said I was trying to violate her managerial authority by telling her not to include the certification requirement.

I didn’t have the authority to remove the certification requirement, so the job search continued.

Internal people who lacked the certification didn’t apply because she made it very clear they wouldn’t be considered.

She ended up hiring an external person who (wait for it) also did not have the certification. Now, this person can absolutely do the job. But the current staff is furious. Not at the new hire–they recognize it’s not her fault–but at the manager. They didn’t apply for the job because the manager made it very clear she would not consider them.

Now we have a morale issue. Lesson from this: If you’re going to make a rule, you need to enforce it. Making a rule and then not enforcing it is incredibly damaging to your employees.

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