Does it matter what their intentions are if the result is that they end up protecting employees too? They are being paid by the company too, and it's their job to make sure the company follows legal practices to ensure the company doesn't get sued. Of course they have an incentive to protect the company, but any trained and educated HR person knows that treating employees well is a great way to protect the company.

Does it always work out that way? No. Why? There are HR people who are bad at their jobs or intentionally malicious or unscrupulous, yes. There are also "HR departments" that are run by family members of an executive of the company and don't have any idea what they're doing.

All I'm saying is that HR departments, most of them, at least try to talk executives into doing the right thing, but at the end of the day HR doesn't get to make the final decision.

If you're mad at the HR department of your company for something, it almost certainly wasn't their idea.

Or in very simple terms, don't shoot the messenger.