Policy 19

Hiring and Placement of Relatives

Approved Executive Committee of the Board of Governors 67.23

HIRING AND PLACEMENT OF RELATIVES

PRINCIPLE

  1. The University seeks to eliminate actual or apparent conflicts of interest which may result from having relatives work in the same administrative hierarchy.

DEFINITIONS

Relative:

  1. For the purposes of this policy, relative means a person having once-or-twice-removed blood or marriage ties, i.e. spouse, mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, nephew, niece, grandson, grand-daughter, aunt and uncle.

Spouse:

  1. Includes a common law spouse and the definition of relative includes the prescribed relatives of a spouse.

APPLICATION

  1. This policy applies to all the personnel of the University including those persons remunerated through research grants or contracts.

POLICY

  1. The following rules apply to the hiring and placement of relatives:
    1. no person shall be hired, transferred or promoted to a position falling under the direct administrative responsibility of a relative;
    2. employees must not take part in the hiring or placement process of a relative (including any evaluation process) nor attempt in any way to influence these processes;
    3. the hiring of close relatives within the same work unit is not recommended even where there is no direct reporting relationship between them;
    4. where an employee marries or enters into a common law relationship with her/his superior, the superior is under an obligation to advise the University in writing. In such cases, all reasonable steps must be taken in order to eliminate the actual or apparent conflict of interest without penalizing either spouse.

EXCEPTION

  1. No exception to this policy may be made without the written consent of the Administrative Committee.

    Revised November 24, 1986

    (Human Resources)