When HR breaks bad: When the people who enforce the rules break them, HR has a lot of damage control to do, say experts

Author(s): Smith, J. R.

Date: 2026

Resource: Human Resources Director.

A recent case of an HR manager accused of misappropriating over $180,000 in company funds for her own use underscores a critical vulnerability for organizations: the catastrophic fallout when HR professionals breach the trust placed in them. […]

HR professionals occupy a distinctive position within organizations — as the internal face of policy implementation and employee governance, HR leaders are expected to embody and enforce the very standards that guide organizational conduct, says Catherine Connelly, professor of human resources and management at McMaster University. “Any leader would have a certain expectation of behaviour and they’re the external face of the company, so the standard would always be higher for them,” says Connelly. “But HR is often the internal face of the company — they’re the embodiment of every policy and are frequently tasked with enforcing the policies.”

This dual responsibility creates heightened expectations, according to Connelly. She says that employees interact with HR regularly through recruitment, onboarding, benefits administration, and leave requests, which differs markedly from other business functions. Most employees understand HR’s role in their working lives, meaning any missteps receive proportionally greater scrutiny than lapses in less-visible departments.

“There’s an expectation that [HR] will be able to at least follow the policy that they’re assumed to responsible for,” says Connelly. […]

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