Frequently Asked Questions
Is HR licensure really necessary?
High-impact professions require licensure because their actions and decisions affect people’s lives. HR directly influences who gets hired, who gets fired, who gets promoted, how employees are paid, how employees are disciplined, and how workplace complaints and investigations are handled. Those decisions directly affect economic mobility, psychological health, and legal risk. Licensure protects not just employees and the public, it protects businesses and HR professionals themselves.
Why start in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts has strong worker protections, established professional licensing systems, and a history of thoughtful public debate on workplace issues. Starting here allows the project to test an evidence-based approach to HR licensure in a way that is practical, transparent, and replicable in other states.
Will licensure create a talent shortage?
If licensure creates a talent shortage, that means we currently have unqualified people influencing and making life-changing decisions without training or oversight. Degrees aren’t required. Certifications aren’t required. Ethical standards aren’t required. Licensure raises the bar, just like in accounting, law, medicine, or social work. It ultimately strengthens the talent pipeline by making HR a respected, credible profession people want to enter.
Will licensure increase costs for employers?
Organizations already pay an enormous hidden tax for untrained or unethical HR: wrongful termination suits, discrimination claims, reputational damage, lost productivity, turnover, and employee disengagement. A single lawsuit can cost more than licensure compliance for an entire HR department. Licensure isn’t a cost. It’s a risk-mitigation investment.
Shouldn’t HR represent the employer?
In every licensed profession, the duty is both to the client and to the public. Attorneys represent clients, but still must follow the law. Nurses serve hospitals, but also must follow ethical standards. HR can still support business strategy, but they must not do so at the expense of legality, ethics, or human dignity.
Will regulation make it harder for HR to act quickly?
Competence never slows organizations down. Chaos does. A licensed HR professional can make faster, cleaner, legally defensible decisions because they have standardized training and ethical guardrails.
Doesn’t this make HR look like the problem?
HR isn’t the problem. The lack of professional standards is. Licensure is how we rebuild trust, credibility, and consistency. Every profession that has gained public trust did so through regulation, not wishful thinking. HR deserves the same legitimacy and respect.
Certifications already exist. Why isn’t SHRM/HRCI enough?
Certifications are optional, unregulated, unmonitored, and cannot enforce ethical standards or remove someone from practice. They are business products, not public safeguards. Licensure is the difference between professional courtesy and public accountability.
Won’t licensure make professional organizations like SHRM or HRCI obsolete?
No. Licensure is the floor, not the ceiling. It sets the minimum standard for ethical practice, while professional organizations remain free to innovate, specialize, and advance the field. Licensure answers the question: “Who is qualified to practice at all, and under what ethical and legal standards?” Voluntary credentials answer a different question: “Who has pursued advanced knowledge, specialization, or leadership beyond the minimum?”
How will small businesses comply?
Small businesses already outsource HR, use professional employer organizations, or rely on generalists. The solution is scalable:
Licensed HR oversight could be outsourced or fractional.
Only certain high-impact decisions would require licensed review.
States can phase implementation based on employer size.
Will this create unnecessary bureaucracy?
Most licensing boards already exist; HR can be added. Licensure is standard practice for fields regulating human welfare. Costs of licensure are low compared to benefits. Consider the financial and reputational costs of bad HR practices and decisions.
HR typically is not the final decision-maker. Why regulate them?
If HR truly lacked power, we wouldn’t be seeing multimillion-dollar lawsuits tied directly to HR’s actions, decisions, or failures to act. HR has enormous influence, and the public feels the impact. Licensure matches responsibility with accountability, just like every other profession that touches people’s lives. This would finally give HR the independence and authority to say no to unethical directives. It protects HR professionals from retaliation, empowers them to uphold the law, and makes their ethical obligations clear.