[jcims]

That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. All it takes is one bonehead. Not even a bonehead really, I don't want to try to maintain any semblance of technical acumen in my role and take care of the folks that I support and know all the intricacies of labor-related laws and standards.

[chrisseaton]

What makes HR immune to having 'boneheads' in any other company? If your risk is 'someone might be a bonehead' then having HR as a separate department doesn't help does it?

[jcims]

Possibly, but if you have a separation of duties with the manager and HR tasks, you’re more likely to have someone go to bat for you when one gets out of line.

When it all goes through a single person, there’s less of a balancing force there.

Both obviously can be abused.

[dogma1138]

Nothing but as a manager I wouldn’t want to deal with clearly HR related issues alone.

Form a managers perspective I see HR essentially as your legal counsel, if the company wants to delegate that to the legal department sure but they’ll be likely overpaying those who’ll be tasked with dealing with HR issues all day long.

[valuearb]

You have a legal department to guide you on legal issues, from harassment to mandated leave.