if you're not a part of the cool crowd you will never advance within the company, rules and regulations only apply to those outside of this crowd, upper management only hires friends and family and therefore no one will ever advance and/or grow within this this company. Don't waste your time bringing up this issue to HR as they are already aware and simply don't care. Also, never bring any of this up to anyone in management and or HR or you will be the next one fired for miscellaneous reason.