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City of Thompson develops family hiring policy

The City of Thompson, which has several married couples working for it, has developed a family hiring policy, spelling out things like who constitutes "immediate" family, hiring and supervision.

The City of Thompson, which has several married couples working for it, has developed a family hiring policy, spelling out things like who constitutes "immediate" family, hiring and supervision.

The policy was approved unanimously and without discussion by city council Oct. 19. The rationale for instituting the policy, the city says, is "in order to ensure that any relationship in a hiring situation that could be perceived as being inappropriate is dealt with appropriately, lawfully and fairly."

The policy establishes guidelines regarding "the hiring and placement of relatives of employees and members of council of the City of Thompson that must be adhered to."

"Immediate family" is defined as husband, wife, (includes common-law wife and common-law husband), son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in- law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, grandparent, grandchild, step-child, step-sister, step-brother or step-parent and includes any other member of an individual's family who resides in the same household as the individual."

In hiring, the merit principle should prevail at all times, the city saying "will not provide a preference nor discriminate in favour of, or against, the part time or full time employment of someone who is in the immediate family of a member of council or a city employee. The principle of merit shall prevail and shall be the deciding factor in the selection and appointment of successful

candidates."

The policy goes on, however, to also say "in keeping with good personnel procedures and to guarantee equal employment opportunity to all, and to eliminate actual or potential conflicts of interest, candidates generally will not be hired:

for positions in which they would be supervised by, or be subject to, the immediate supervision of a member of the immediate family;

or be appointed to a position where, as an immediate family member, the effort or performance of one immediate family member might affect the effort or performance of another immediate family member, such as where both immediate family members would report to the same immediate supervisor; or where one immediate family member would be responsible for auditing the work of another immediate family member; or where one immediate family member would be involved in the determination of the salary/wage level of another immediate family member, or the promotion/retention of another immediate family member.

As well, the policy says, "no employee, or member of council, shall exert any direct or indirect influence by virtue of his or her position with respect to the hiring of an immediate family member. Such employee or member or council is deemed to be in conflict and will be removed from the decision making process.

The policy does leave the city some wiggle room, however, saying, "It is recognized that each case must be addressed on its own merits, and so exceptions to the general policy as noted may be appropriate in certain circumstances. For clarity, if a candidate is otherwise the best candidate he or she may be hired provided that reasonable accommodation can be reached so as to avoid the actual or potential conflict of interest. By way of example, this might mean having someone other than an immediate family member involved in the hiring or supervisory processes."

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