Workers Party Senator Proposes Ban on Terms Human Resources and Human Capital in Businesses
This article by Nancy Escutia originally appeared in the March 30, 2026 edition of El Economista.
The title of Human Resources could disappear in companies, as an initiative to reform the Federal Labour Law (LFT) and prohibit terms such as HR or Human Capital in departments of private organizations has been presented in the Senate of the Republic.
The proposal promoted by Senator Alejandro González Yáñez, from the Workers Party (PT) caucus, seeks to add a final paragraph to Article 3 of the LFT to prohibit the naming, implementation or use of expressions such as Human Resources, Human Capital or any other analogous one.
According to the legislator, these terms objectify people and reduce them to a commodity or productive asset; therefore, he proposes that these titles be eliminated and replaced with designations that recognize the dignity, rights, and human character of working people.
“By presenting labour management as a technical or administrative matter, tensions inherent in the relationship between capital and labour are rendered invisible. Decisions that profoundly affect people’s lives, such as layoffs, restructurings, or changes in working conditions, are presented as simple resource management processes.”
He mentions that “language is never neutral” and that in the workplace, concepts should not dehumanize or subordinate people’s dignity. “This change responds to a basic principle: working to live, not living to work , understanding work as a means to happiness, personal and collective fulfillment,” he stated.
Senator Alejandro González Yáñez emphasizes in the bill that prohibiting the use of terms such as Human Resources and Human Capital does not deny the importance of these areas in organizations; however, he reiterates that this encourages viewing people as “resources”, similar to the use of words such as “capital”, “technology” and “raw materials”.
“We are witnessing how language reflects a logic in which the primary value of people lies in their ability to generate profit.” He adds that work is not only an economic activity, but also a source of identity, community, and personal fulfillment that includes individuals with aspirations, emotions, values, and rights.
The explanatory statement of the initiative indicates that when people are seen as resources, it is understood that they are elements that can be used, managed, optimized and in some cases even replaced, which dehumanizes them.
Why is the Concept of Human Resources Used?
The term HR emerged in the 1920s to refer to all personnel management processes at work, according to the research Evolution of the concept of Human Resources, from the point of view of psychology and administration, published in the journal Suma de Negocios of Konrad Lorenz University.
The study indicated that these areas were necessary within the strategic vision of companies, since the results in terms of performance, objectives and goals depended on them, in line with the increase in the quality of work and the balance and attention to the needs of the workers.
In this way, the Human Resources areas took over recruitment activities, including recruitment, onboarding, training, career development, compensation, performance evaluation, and labour-management relations, as well as research on culture, climate, turnover, job satisfaction, and resistance to change. They also promoted the design and implementation of procedures and job descriptions.
However, the initiative in the Senate states that Human Resources has now focused on policies that seek to maximize labour efficiency without paying attention to the overall well-being of people, as well as on the evaluation of their performance and productivity, which has increased work pressure and depersonalization.
“By presenting labour management as a technical or administrative matter, tensions inherent in the relationship between capital and labour are rendered invisible. Decisions that profoundly affect people’s lives, such as layoffs, restructurings, or changes in working conditions, are presented as simple resource management processes,” the proposal states.
New Titles to Replace Human Resources
With the prohibition of the use of HR in companies, the proposed reform to the Federal Labour Law proposes the use of expressions such as “people management”, “employee experience” or “labour relations”, terms that have already begun to be used in some organizations.
In this regard, Human Resources developer Sara Climent Blasco shares that changing the name of HR areas reflects “a more modern and people-centered vision,” therefore, she suggests some alternatives to consider: “People and culture,” “People operations,” “People experience,” “Talent management,” or “Culture and talent.”
Pointing out that words are not neutral, Alejandro González Yáñez adds that promoting language within the Federal Labour Law (LFT) that recognizes the dignity and complexity of the human experience will help in building fairer and more respectful work cultures.
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