First job out of school we were not given any physical documentation like an employee handbook or health insurance information. We had to ask the sole HR person about what benefits we had or how to access our health care. HR was always very available to do this. The whole set-up seemed harmless enough. I didn’t know any better.
(This was a very small division-less than 75 people- of a huge global pharmaceutical & biotech company. This company is a household name.)
One day, a half dozen HR execs from headquarters decided to visit us. We got all dressed up for the occasion (remember, we are jeans & t-shirt-wearing lab folks).
They gathered us into a room. The visiting HR execs started in with praises of the company’s achievements over the year. Then made a reference to some of the benefits we had per the employee handbook.
We looked at them with puzzled faces.
“People, do you not read your employee handbooks?”, they asked.
We shook our heads and said, “No…We weren’t given employee handbooks.”
All of the visitors looked at our HR person. She explained that she never gave these out to us because she knew we’d just lose them. But she was more than happy to answer any questions about employee policies. All we had to do was ask.
That did not go over well.
The meeting agenda then changed into a reading and discussion of all the benefits outlined in the handbook (at some point, the few copies of the employee handbook they brought along were handed out to folks. And someone was dispatched to generate additional copies). They explained how each benefit works and how to access them.
Several times a commotion occurred when someone would say, “Oh wow, I didn’t know we had that benefit!” followed by everyone looking at our HR person. She would sheepishly mumble something along the lines of “I figured you wouldn’t be interested in that” or “That benefit really can’t be accommodated here because of the specialized work we do.” She made a poor impression on our visitors. I’m betting she heard about that privately after the meeting.
The person doing the reading then pulled out several of his business cards and handed them to us. He told us to call him directly if anyone tried to deny any of the benefits listed in the employee handbook.
After they left, things returned to normal. I know that a few people asked to exercise some of the benefits afforded them. The HR person tried to talk them out of it only to be faced with the business card of the HR exec. She acquiesced.