SHRM Workplace Knowledge Domain

To be successful at their jobs, HR professionals need to know how to:

-Manage a global workforce to achieve organizational objectives

-Manage organizational risks and threats to the safety and security of employees
-Contribute to the well-being and betterment of the community
-Comply with applicable laws and regulations

Managing a Global Workforce

Focuses on the role of the HR professional in managing global and mobile workforces to achieve organizational objectives

HR structures that support global work

Examples include immigration and mobility specialists; geographic centers of excellence; global job classifications; international business travel policies

Immigration and mobility

Examples include laws; visa processes and requirements; sponsorship expenses

Best practices for international assignments

Examples include performance expectations and evaluations; health and safety; compensation adjustments; socialization; assessing employee and family readiness; training on culture and resources; language training; education travel grants; rental subsidies; transition plans; repatriation

Methods for moving work

Examples include off shoring; onshoring; nearshoring; remote teams

Managing a Global Workforce (Proficiency Indicator)

Maintains up-to-date knowledge of political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) factors and their influence on an organization's universal workforce

Managing a Global Workforce (Proficiency Indicator)

Administers and supports HR activities associated with a global and mobile workforce

Managing a Global Workforce (Proficiency Indicator)

Balances the organization's desire for standardization of cross-border HR programs, practices and policies with local needs

Managing a Global Workforce (Proficiency Indicator)

Manages and supports the organization's immigration and mobility program in accordance with regulatory or compliance requirements

Managing a Global Workforce (Proficiency Indicator)

Manages the day-to-day activities associated with international (i.e., expatriate) assignments

Risk Management

The identification, assessment and prioritization of risks, and the application of resources to minimize, monitor and control the probability and impact of those risks accordingly

Enterprise risk management processes and best practices, and risk treatments

-Examples of enterprise risk management processes and best practices include understanding context; identifying risks; analyzing risks; prioritizing risks

-Examples of risk treatments include avoidance; reduction; sharing; retention

Approaches to qualitative and quantitative risk assessment

Examples include single loss expectancy; annualized loss expectancy

Risk sources and types

-Examples of risk sources include project failures, insufficient resources

-Examples of risk types include hazard; financial; operational; strategic

Legal and regulatory compliance auditing and investigation techniques

Examples include audit or investigation plan; corrective actions

Quality assurance techniques and methods

Examples include after-action analysis; industry-specific standards

Business recovery and continuity-of-operations planning

Examples include business continuity and disaster recovery plan; evacuation procedures and simulations

Emergency and disaster preparation and response planning

-Examples of emergencies and disasters include communicable disease; natural disaster; severe weather; terrorism; man-made disaster

-Examples of preparation and response planning include communication mechanisms; evacuation plans

Safety and security concerns and prevention

Examples include workplace violence; active shooter; theft; fraud; corporate espionage; sabotage; kidnapping and ransom; insider threat; data breach

Workplace/occupational injury and illness prevention, investigations and workspace solutions

Examples include identification of hazards; safety training

Approaches to a drug-free workplace

Examples include drug testing; treatment of substance abuse

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Monitors PESTLE factors and their influence on the organization.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Administers and supports HR programs, practices and policies that identify and/or mitigate workplace risk.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Implements crisis management, contingency and business continuity plans for the HR function and the organization.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Communicates critical information about risks and risk mitigation to employees at all levels

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Conducts due diligence investigations to evaluate risks and ensure legal and regulatory compliance

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Conducts workplace safety- and health-related investigations.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Audits risk management activities and plans.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Maintains and ensures accurate reporting of internationally accepted workplace health and safety standards.

Risk Management (Proficiency Indicator)

Incorporates anticipated level of risk into business cases.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Represents the organization's commitment to operate ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local and global community

HR-related activities that support sustainability

Examples include human rights; safety practices; labor standards; performance development; inclusion and diversity; compensation; supply chain management

Organizational philosophies and policies

Examples include development; integration; shared value

Steps to implement CSR strategy

Examples include developing a business case; obtaining executive approval; selecting recipients; identifying and analyzing performance indicators; recruiting and organizing participants

Approaches to community inclusion and engagement

Examples include representation on community boards; joint community projects; employee volunteerism

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Acts as a professional role model and representative of the organization when interacting with the community

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Identifies and promotes opportunities for HR and the organization to engage in CSR activities that align with the organization's CSR strategy.

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Identifies opportunities to incorporate environmentally and socially responsible business practices and shares them with leadership.

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Helps staff at all levels understand the societal impact of business decisions and the role of the organization's CSR strategy in improving the community

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Maintains transparency of HR programs, practices and policies, where appropriate.

Corporate Social Responsibility (Proficiency Indicator)

Coaches managers to achieve an appropriate level of transparency in organizational practices and decisions.

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations

Refers to the knowledge and application of all relevant laws and regulations in the United States relating to employment—provisions that set the parameters and limitations for each HR functional area and for organizations overall

Employment and Authorization to Work

Examples include Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; Form I-9 and E-Verify; green cards and visa types (examples include H-1B, F-1); employment at will; background checks; Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (FCRA); Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy

Compensation

Examples include Davis-Bacon Act of 1931; Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936; Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA; Wage-Hour Bill; Wagner-Connery Wages and Hours Act) and amendments, including the 2020 overtime rule; Equal Pay Act of 1963 (amending FLSA); McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965; Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA); Affordable Care Act's Break Time for Nursing Mothers (2010); Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009; Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (2007

Employee Relations

Examples include National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA; Wagner Act; Wagner-Connery Labor Relations Act); Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (LMRA; Taft-Hartley Act); Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 and amendments; Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986; Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) of 1988; Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988; NLRB v. Weingarten (1975); Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB (1992)

Job Safety and Health

Examples include Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA); guidelines on sexual harassment; workers' compensation

Equal Employment Opportunity

Examples include Civil Rights Acts of 1964, including Title VII; Executive Order 11246 (1965); Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) and amendments; Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972; Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including sections 501 and 503; Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974; Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607) (1978); Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and amendments; Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA); Executive Order 13672 (2014); Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971); Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp. (1971); McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973).

Leave and Benefits

Examples include Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA); Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA; expanded 2008, 2010); Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA); Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including rules for breaks and lactation rooms for nursing mothers; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and amendments, including leave as a reasonable accommodation; Defense of Marriage Act (overruled in 2013); EEOC v. Verizon (2011); National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012

Miscellaneous

Examples include drug screening; medical marijuana

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations (Proficiency Indicators)

Maintains a current working knowledge of relevant domestic and global employment laws

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations (Proficiency Indicators)

Ensures that HR programs, practices and policies align and comply with laws and regulations

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations (Proficiency Indicators)

Coaches employees at all levels in understanding and avoiding illegal and noncompliant HR-related behaviors (examples include illegal terminations or discipline, unfair labor practices)

U.S. Employment Law & Regulations (Proficiency Indicators)

Brokers internal or external legal services for interpretation of employment laws