As part of IRS Employment Review’s Roles and Responsibilities 2006 survey HR departments from 179 public and private sector organisations were asked who takes responsibility for specific areas.
Administration – including leave, attendance and pension records – remains an HR responsibility in about half the organisations questioned.
This is despite HR’s efforts to devolve as much as possible to line managers, and the increase of self-service information systems. Equal opportunities and training are also firmly within HR’s remit in about 50% of companies, according to the survey.
In organisations where line managers are involved in core people management work, such as in employee relations (discipline, dismissals and disputes) and staffing issues (including recruitment, redeployment and redundancy), it is usually in partnership with the HR department.