Human resource professionals have a great responsibility to the organizations they serve. They are tasked with filling the needs of the organization, navigating strict and sometimes complex laws, and dealing with unknown variables that come along with all of the different people they interact with on a daily basis. When you add in the complexities that occur when managing employees in a tribal organization, no day is quite the same.
What is Human Resources?
At the most basic level, the human resources department of any organization is exactly what it says; the part of the organization that manages the employees, the human resources of the organization. The function of the human resources department can vary somewhat depending on the size of the organization and the number of people it employs. But in general, everything human resources is responsible for will fit into one of four categories:
- Recruiting and Staffing – This category includes things like assessing the need for labor, proactive recruiting, interviewing and selecting applicants, and carrying out the on-boarding process.
- Compensation and Benefits – This includes things like developing the overall salary philosophy, assigning salaries to different roles, outlining performance bonuses, managing and helping employees with benefits packages, and offering fringe benefits.
- Training and Development – This could be providing orientation for new employees, offering help and education for career development, or making sure that employees understand how to stay compliant with industry-specific laws and regulations.
- Employee Relations – This area of human resources deals with things like employee complaints, formal grievances, incentives and rewards, supervisory training, and unemployment claims.
How is Tribal Human Resources Different?
Managing tribal employees brings a whole new set of challenges to anyone in a human resources role. Working in Indian Country changes the rules significantly. Things like tribal sovereignty, tribal culture, Indian preference, and tribal hierarchy come into play.
Because of the sovereign status of Indian tribes, they are basically nations within a nation. They have the right to govern themselves. Individual states have no jurisdiction over them, and their relationship with the federal U.S. government works almost like any other foreign country. This creates a unique culture within tribal organizations that change the role and responsibilities of human resources.
- Inclusion of Tribal Culture – In some tribal organizations, the onboarding process may include education about tribal culture. It could include things like the history of the tribe itself, origins and use of the tribal language, or things considered to be sacred to the tribe such as people, artifacts, or specific days and dates.
- Indian Employment Preference – Tribal organizations, may give preferential treatment to Indian applicants and employees. This could work as an equal preference given to all members of federally recognized tribes, or it could be a preference for the organization’s tribe first. Those preferences could affect things like hiring policies, training, promotions, and layoffs.
- Tribal Government Policies – There is an elected or appointed governing body that sets the rules and laws of the tribe. It is up to HR to make sure that all employees are aware of, and in compliance with, any tribal laws that affect them or the organization.
Do Federal U.S. Laws Apply?
The U.S. Constitution and other U.S. laws have set up what is known as the plenary power doctrine, which gives Congress the ultimate authority over matters that pertain to Indian tribes. This has, for the most part, kept the executive branch of the government and the federal courts out of most situations.
The short and fast answer to whether or not U.S. federal employment laws apply to tribal businesses is no. Congress has chosen to stay silent about how, and if, most laws apply. In the case of Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), which prohibits employers from discriminating based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin, Indian tribal organizations are specifically exempt. They are also specifically exempt from the Americans With Disabilities Act, which was passed into law in 1990.
Working in human resources managing tribal employees can be challenging, but it can also be a career that stewards your Tribe. Even so, it’s not unusual to find that the human resources department in any organization is stretched thin. Getting some help can make a tremendous difference. Contact us today for more information.