HR and Labour Relations – What’s the difference?

This may come as a bit of a surprise to those not directly involved in the field of human resources, but there is indeed a difference between HR and Labour Relations.

Labour Relations, or Industrial Relations as it is sometimes referred to, and Human Resources are essentially two distinct, albeit related, functions within an organisation.

Human Resources is responsible for, inter alia, talent acquisition, onboarding, learning and development, compensation and benefits, organisational design, performance management, succession planning, retention management, and legal compliance.

Arguably, the most important responsibility for human resources is that it acts as an agent of change and assumes the critical role of cultivator of organisational culture. 

Labour Relations, on the other hand, is a specialised field of Human Resource management that focuses on building and maintaining a positive and harmonious relationship between employer and employee and creating a constructive workplace environment that fosters engagement, productivity, and trust. 

Labour Relations is responsible for ensuring compliance with all labour laws, legislation, and regulations, for mediating and conciliating all employee/employer disputes, and for negotiating collective bargaining agreements with trade unions.

Labour Relations is also responsible for the handling of all employee grievances and complaints, and for conducting investigations into employee misconduct, or violations of company policies and procedures. 

The fundamental difference between HR and Labour Relations is the scope and the focus of the respective roles and responsibilities. Whereas HR is a broader, more proactive function that encompasses the entire employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to de-hiring, Labour Relations is a narrower and more reactive function that deals with specific employee issues and situations.

Labour Relations is therefore more operational and transactional, whilst human resources is far more strategic and transformational. 

Notwithstanding the difference between industrial or labour relations and human resources, there is also a significant overlap between the two functions. Both share the common goal of creating a positive and productive working environment that supports the organization's success and culture. Both functions also require similar skills and competencies, such as communication, collaboration, ethics, and professionalism. 

In larger organisations, the functions of Labour Relations and Human Resources are split into two distinct departments, each department headed by a specialist HR or IR practitioner. Both functions, however, report to either an HR Director, a Group HR Manager, or a Chief People’s Officer. This hierarchy is typical in most large organisations and underscores the fact that Labour Relations or Industrial Relations is essentially a subset of Human Resources.

In smaller companies or businesses, responsibility for both the HR and IR functions is vested in one person, normally an HR Generalist. The HR Generalist is required to have a myriad of skills and competencies encompassing both the HR and IR management functions.

Essentially, an HR Generalist is both an HR specialist and an LR specialist. A classic case of ‘two for the price of one’ in many organisations! 

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