Human Resources

Role of Human Resources at Work

Human resources is a relatively new function in workplaces that did not really gain prominence or take its current shape until the 1970s, when company implementation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was in full swing. Prior to Title VII, HR originated in the capitalist environment of the United States at the end of the 19th century. Employers at this time were interested in “welfare capitalism”—the idea that employers could protect workers from unemployment, sickness, and other economic woes. For the most part, employers thought that if they could “protect” their workers, this would reduce union growth, minimize government regulation—both of which employers tried to avoid—and give them social control over workers. Following World War II and the shift in the U.S economy that followed (i.e., the reduction in manual labor, declining mass production, and decreased role of unions), welfare capitalism emerged as a somewhat changed system. By the start of the 1960s, modern welfare capitalism became focused on increasing its appeal to the new U.S. labor force that was younger, more female, and more educated than ever before. Companies appealed to this new labor force by adopting a new work model that included things like HR departments, which could influence employees and bridge employees with management.

The rise of contemporary HR departments occurred, in large part, because Title VII was ambiguous in both its definition of “discrimination” and in stating exactly how companies should comply with the law. Not wanting to face [Page 394]trouble in court for engaging in discrimination or noncompliance with federal law, companies hired HR personnel to figure out how to comply with federal law and avoid expensive lawsuits. In their capacity to protect companies from being sued for violation of federal labor law, HR departments also unintentionally decided what Title VII would look like in practice. When HR personnel decided how companies should comply with the law, they also defined what was illegal; federal officials picked up on the practices and policies of HR departments, and soon what HR departments were doing to prevent discrimination at work became viewed by the federal government as how to prevent discrimination. For example, in the 1970s, HR encouraged companies to implement maternity leave policies, and by doing so, they defined pregnancy discrimination as illegal.

...