7 surprising requests addressed to HR: how to respond to them?

There are days in the life of an HR department when you wonder if you haven’t changed jobs without warning!

Between the request which borders on the absurd and the false legal evidence delivered with disarming aplomb, the human resources office sometimes operates the complaints desk the most unexpected!

Good news: behind almost every absurd question there is a very real skill to draw, a point of law, a framework to ask, a dose of diplomacy. Overview of seven authentic requests, and how to respond to it without turning away or giving in everything.

“I’m too hot, can I exercise my right of withdrawal? HAS”

Tempting, especially at the end of July when the open space turns into a sauna!

Except that heat alone is not enough. The right of withdrawal assumes that the employee reasonably judges that he or she is facing a serious and imminent danger for his or her life or health (article L4131-1 of the Labor Code), not simple discomfort.

And the law does not set any maximum working temperature. The INRS still sets useful benchmarks: vigilance from 30°C for sedentary activity, 28°C for physical work, and proven danger above 33°C.

However, we do not brush aside the request out of hand !

Since July 1, 2025, a new system requires adapting the organization according to four levels of vigilance based on Météo-France alerts: fresh water, ventilation, adjustment of schedules.Â

The correct answer comes in two parts: remind that the heatwave does not trigger an automatic right of withdrawalwhile proving that security is taken seriously. The subject deserves to be anticipated, not managed in the urgency of a panicking thermometer.

To explore the mechanism, do not hesitate to also read our article on the right of withdrawal in the Labor Code!

Also read:

“Can we postpone the meeting? I’m looking after my children this teleworking day. HAS”

This starts from a good intention, and that is precisely what makes it delicate.Â

Teleworking has blurred a boundary that the law has never moved: it is not a mode of care. During working hours, the employee remains at the disposal of his employer, not his child. Postponing a meeting because the little one refuses to take a nap is therefore out of the box!

Should we therefore draw out the internal regulations? Rarely. Most of these situations end with a little negotiated flexibility : an adjusted slot, a video camera cut off, a discreet reminder that teleworking requires organized care in parallel.

The role of HR is not to play the police, but to restate the principle without humiliating an employee who, most often, is already juggling as best he can. Firmness on the rule does not prohibit benevolence on the case.

“Can I telework exceptionally this Friday? » (and Monday is a holiday)

The implication escapes no one: the four-day weekend is in the crosshairs. There is nothing illegitimate about the request, but it does not give rise to any rights!

Outside of periods of health crisis, teleworking is seen as an employee’s right which is implemented with the agreement of the employer. No automatism, therefore, under the pretext of a non-working Monday.

Everything depends on consistency. If an agreement or charter governs teleworking, it is that which decides, period. If there is nothing written, be wary of the snowball effect: the “yes” said on one of these Fridays will become the previous one brandished by ten others at the next bridge.

Better a clear rule, even flexible, than a succession of arrangements at the head of the client. It is in the interest of HR to establish a framework once and for all rather than arbitrating on a case-by-case basis, exposing itself to accusations of favoritism.

“Can you resolve the conflict between my two colleagues? HAS”

The great classic of hot potatoes!

Two members of a team can no longer stand each other, and the manager rushes to the HR department in the hope of delegating the dirty work. Problem: guaranteeing a favorable working climate within your team is part of the manager’s role. Not from HR!

The trap would be to agree to do it for him. The confusion between the responsibilities of the manager and those of HR is one of the main causes of bogged down conflicts, each having a distinct scope.

The correct posture consists of providing tools rather than replacing oneself: helping the manager to prepare the exchange, reminding him of the stages of mediation, and only intervening directly when neutrality really requires it, even if it means calling on an external mediator to guarantee this neutrality.

Next to the advertisement

Our articles on conflict management in business and the mediator manager detail the procedure to follow!

“Why did the person who held the position leave? HAS”

This is a question that nicely reverses the roles!

For a long time, the recruiter carried out the interrogation alone; now the candidate takes out his own, and it is sometimes sharper. “Why is this position vacant? “, “Can you describe a typical day for me? »: so many polite ways of probing what the brochure doesn’t say.

The teleworking policy is almost systematically included in the questions asked to the recruiter, sometimes from the first meeting.

To turn away would be a mistake. These somewhat cheeky questions above all betray a candidate who is planning, and therefore who is interested. The correct answer is in one word: transparence ! 

Assuming that a position has become available for this or that reason, speaking frankly about the team and the process deadlines, is also selling the company. On condition of maintaining the same rigor as on the other side of the table, where certain questions, conversely, are quite simply prohibited: here we remind you of the questions to ban in interviews.

“Can I know how much my colleague earns? HAS”

Pay transparency is on the rise, and the question comes up more and more often.Â

The answer, however, remains no; at least not the nominal salary of the office neighbor.Â

Even the long-awaited European directive on salary transparency, which was to be transposed no later than June 7, 2026, does not provide this right: it does not offer employees the right to know the remuneration of their colleagues.

In France, the timetable has slipped, with a bill circulating since March 2026, but the spirit of the text is clear.

What he devotes is a right to know the average levels of remuneration by sex for equivalent worktherefore to locate one’s own position. The aggregate, never the nominative!

Also remember: clauses prohibiting talking about one’s salary become void, which authorizes everyone to disclose their own, not to demand that of others. The HR error would be “it’s confidential” sec.

It is better to explain the border between the right to information and individual secrecy, and to bring the discussion back to the objective criteria of the grid.

“You don’t have to know what I do with my delegation hours. And you pay me the 5 extra! HAS”

A case oÃ1 he was right… à moitié !

In principle, he says the truth:The hours of delegation benefit from a presumption of good useand the employer must pay them at the normal due date without requiring prior justification.

If he contests its use, he pays first, then asks the elected official for details, and only afterwards can he refer the matter to the industrial tribunal. So no upstream policing!

The second part of the sentence is stuck. Hours taken beyond the monthly credit, for exceptional circumstances, do not fall within this presumption: it is then up to the elected official to prove the exceptional nature and the link with his duties, the employer being entitled to verify these elements before paying.

The cropping therefore holds in balance : validate the right without giving up on abuse, all without crossing the line of the crime of obstruction, which lurks as soon as we withhold what is legitimately owed. The whole art of HR is there: knowing the border better than the person who has fun testing it.

The real job, behind the absurd

Seven requests, seven opportunities to roll your eyes!

However, on closer inspection, each tells the same thing: a profession that requires law, composure and a solid dose of diplomacy, often in the same sentence.

HR competence does not consist of knowing all the answers by heart. It lies in the ability to say no, yes or “it depends” with the right framework, without holding back or denying oneself.

This is undoubtedly, ultimately, the most beautiful part of the function: transforming the absurd into pedagogy, and the shaky request into an opportunity to lay down the rules of the game!

Also read: