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Comment by Volundr | Hacker News Reader

Assuming you have one, it might be worth talking to your HR department to clarify these instructions. Maybe there is something you aren't getting, or this is something setup by clueless management and they are unaware and would want to intervene.

Beyond that when in doubt, talk to a lawyer. At first glance to me (I am not a lawyer) this seems like it's probably illegal, but it's entirely possible there are nuances to which I'm not privy both in terms of legality and in terms of what's actually happening. A quick consult with an employment lawyer isn't that expensive and will give you a much better idea on how to proceed than HN ever can.

If you don't mind skipping straight to whistle-blowing, you can also talk to your State's department of labor, or the US Department of Labor. They tend to take such things seriously and will no doubt investigate.

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HR only exists to protect the company from liability and lawsuits. Talk to them first at your own risk, and realize that almost no good can come from doing so. At best they will now see you as a 'problem' employee that is asking too many questions, and at worst it could start a chain of actions that lead to your termination or leaving the company (for completely unrelated reasons of course).

This seems like a case where HR would actually care, because the person raising it is trying to protect the company from doing something potentially illegal.

> HR only exists to protect the company from liability and lawsuits.

Exactly. This is exactly why HR will want to know this is happening. So they can shut it down. A half decent HR department will recognize that this carries major risk of lawsuits, and want it killed. You bringing information to about another part of the company trying to do something illegal doesn't make you a "problem" employee.

There are a lot of cases where I'd recommend against talking to HR, but getting a spreadsheet from your boss and asking "hey this seems weird, is it legal?" is one of the things they are good for. Your boss is far more likely to hold a grudge than HR.

Obviously, don't go in screaming it's illegal and they must do something on the off chance it was your Chief People Officer's shitty idea.

And again, nothing wrong with going to an employment lawyer first. But when I've seen blatantly illegal stuff like this it's usually that HR isn't involved in the hiring process and they want to know when it happens so they can educate the relevant parties.

> Exactly. This is exactly why HR will want to know this is happening. So they can shut it down.

Sometimes. Some HR departments in Silicon Valley have taken DEI to heart to the point where they’d be champions of this hiring behavior.

> the off chance it was your Chief People Officer's shitty idea

Doesn't really seem like an "off chance" to me that this would come from either the Chief People Officer, or someone else sufficiently high up in the food chain that they can tell HR to fall back in line.

> You bringing information to about another part of the company trying to do something illegal doesn't make you a "problem" employee.

If you’re reading this and are in a similar situation, please don’t accept this advice without further reflection. On this particular topic, it could very well be wrong. If you’ve decided to report it then I’d suggest using your company’s outside anonymous reporting facility if such a thing exists.

I feel like people are treating this differently than I'm saying it. I'm not saying you go in there, and announce your whistle blowing on discrimination. I'm saying pop by someone's office, go "hey I got this document from Bob, I'm not really qualified to judge, is this kosher?"

99% chance they say no, they'll handle it. 1% chance they say yes, it's fine. If you hit that 1%, don't argue it, lawyer up or decide this isn't your hill.

If you really live in an office so punitive that you think HR (not your boss) is going to come down on you for a casual question and accepting their answer, your already so screwed that no amount of playing things close to your chest is going to help you. You need to already be on your way out because your office is so wild you can't predict when the boot is coming. If you are in this office, you probably already know it, because everything is already broken, and aren't posting "Ask HNs" about it.

This isn't a casual question, this is a question about hiring practices. Who do you think dictates the hiring practices which this person's boss is putting into spreadsheets, etc? Going to HR first is going right to the source and saying, "is what you're doing legal?" This is not a smart move IMHO.

You seem like an intelligent, experienced person who might be out of step with the culture in many companies as it has changed over the past five, and, especially, the last two years. I would be very careful about bringing this issue to your local HR.

It's definitely not "a casual question." What OP is suggesting is heresy in many places. In many people's view, it is discriminatory not to "compensate" for uneven starting points by advantaging based on privilege. The logic goes that if you aren't actively working/supporting changing things, then you are against them.

Also worth noting is that HR managers are overwhelmingly female[1], and in my experience they tend to be some of the more die-hard believers in DEI. If you're concerned that a policy may be discriminating against a male, you're taking a huge gamble by talking to them. It's quite likely that it was their idea in the first place.

[1]: https://www.hrdive.com/news/the-hr-professions-big-diversity...

While talking to a lawyer is the best option, wouldn't this be one of the few cases where HR is relevant? You're specifically bringing to attention a potential liability/lawsuit from external sources.

> You're specifically bringing to attention a potential liability/lawsuit from external sources.

Not unless the author reveal the name of the company, which they didn't (as far as I can see at the time of writing).

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