HR Consultant Mock Interview
Practice 40 HR Consultant interview questions covering compliance, organizational development, and client advisory scenarios.
Question 18 of 40
Have you ever had a particular circumstance where you needed to deviate from HR policy? How did you approach the dilemma?
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I have outstanding judgment when it comes to HR policies and employee requests. I have offered some flexibility on things like time off requests and vacation days, and the gray area surrounding requests comes down to urgency and seriousness in my book. No matter what, I always keep excellent documentation to ensure that our company is never being taken advantage of by employees."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Many organizations find it challenging to be flexible, so this question is also an opportunity to learn more about this organization. Your interviewer wants to know whether you prefer an environment where rules are set out, and everything is black and white or whether you feel there should be wiggle room in policy, depending on particular situations and personalities. Discuss a time when you have deviated from HR policy and make sure to explain that you were in the right in doing so. You do not want to talk about anything illegal, or actions you took that may have been detrimental to your company. This question offers an excellent opportunity for a 'feel good' story.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I had an employee last year who needed extended leave after his mother passed away. It was an exceptional circumstance because his mother lived in England, and he needed to take care of many family matters. I requested that he receive a 30 day leave with 50% pay since he had been very dedicated to the company for many years. This request was a first for the company, but we all agreed that it was an offering well deserved. One piece I had to fight for in this process was sign off by our CEO."
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Jaymie
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Anonymous Answer
We were in dire need of some HHAs to start with Kosher experience, and we have a policy that we could not have the employees start their first shift without having all the medical documents submitted and verified as per the DOH. I proposed to the Chief nurse that we have them present their last TB test record for now and then give them 30 days to get a new test, and we suspend them if they don't submit it by then. This ended up working well as we could get them working immediately after orientation, and they did get the tests in time.
Rachelle's Feedback
It sounds as though you had a constructive idea! I suggest including a touch more detail to the overall situation at the start. From my perspective - coming into the answer blind with little background info, I'm a bit lost at the beginning.
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