Every employee deserves great HR.

HRPA regulates the HR profession in the public interest. That means HR regulation helps to protect you. As a regulatory body, we do this by setting the highest standards to ensure that you, as an employee can:

• Expect to work in an environment that does not condone any behaviour that can be harmful to your mental health or physical health.
• Expect to work in an environment where HR takes the proper precautions and safety measures to ensure that both employees and employers are protected from harm and injury.
• Expect your workplace to conduct a fair and unbiased workplace investigation when a complaint has been filed to ensure fairness and proper handling of misconduct.
• Expect that your workplace makes hiring decisions that are qualified and have passed the relevant background checks, reference checks and criminal checks required.
• Expect to work in an environment where HR works to consistently maintain trust, good faith and fair practices amongst all employees within the organization.
• Be able to report HR to a regulatory body that will investigate any misconduct or malpractice in a fair, and unbiased manner and reprimand any HR professional who does not comply with the standards and regulations we expect from our members.

While regulation for HR professionals is voluntary, its value and importance cannot be overstated. HR is becoming more complex, and more challenging. That’s why qualified, expert and regulated HR professionals, who commit to the highest professional standards, add more strategic value to businesses and help to create better workplaces for employers and employees.

Like most professional regulatory bodies, we have four basic roles:

• Ensure that only competent and ethical professionals are allowed into the profession.
• Ensure that, once in, members and students continue to maintain their competence and practice their profession in a way that minimizes the risk to the public.
• Deal with members and students who fail to live up to the standards of the profession.
• Manage relations with stakeholders in such a way as to develop and maintain public confidence in the regulation of the profession.

HRPA members and students voluntarily choose to be regulated and commit to specific professional obligations, the highest professional standards, and HRPA’s Code of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct. The Code of Ethics is the foundation, setting out six core values that the HRPA expects members, registered firms, and students to demonstrate when providing HR services. The Rules of Professional Conduct translate these values into behaviour by providing parameters for professional conduct to assist HR professionals.

These ethical values constitute HRPA’s Code of Ethics:

• Professionalism: HR professionals are committed to creating and implementing policies, practices, and processes to effectively organize and manage human resources. This is achieved through ethical practice, high personal standards of behaviour, and accountability to the best interests of individuals and the public (including employers and the working population).
• Trustworthiness: HR professionals ensure they preserve the highest standards of ethics, transparency, and truthfulness in all work-related activities.
• Respect: HR professionals value and consider the needs and rights of all and treat all with dignity.
• Competence: HR professionals are the experts in applying human resources knowledge, skills, and professional values when providing high-quality HR advice and services. HR professionals demonstrate a lifelong commitment to excellence in practice through continuous learning and by teaching others.
• Equity and Fairness: HR professionals promote and create opportunities to ensure equal treatment and inclusion for all in the workplace.
• Best interest of others: HR professionals demonstrate a commitment to the parties whose interests they serve by acting on behalf of, and for the benefit of those they serve.

We understand that potential professional misconduct by an HR professional can be extremely challenging, especially for employees, who may worry about their job security if they speak up. That being said, if you do believe that an HR professional has acted in a way that is unethical or unprofessional, then we would strongly encourage you to consider filing a complaint with HRPA and after confirming via our public register that the HR professional is registered with HRPA.

To learn more about how a complaint is reviewed and how decisions are made by the complaint committee please click here.

Employers and employees deserve better HR. It’s your workplace. You can ask questions and expect better. HRPA is here to help. Start by learning more here.

And, if you’re an HR student or professional, and want to make workplaces better for everyone, join us.