"Daddy, can I have a raise?"

HireFire01 · November 2002

Anyone out there have a good policy on NEPOTISM? I'm in the process of drafting a policy and was looking for some good advice. Happy Friday!!!

-Rob

System · November 2002

Rob
Ours is fairly simple and has been blessed by the lawyers:

Relatives may be employed at XXX Company provided the following conditions are met:
1) they do not work under the direction of one another, either directly or indirectly
2) they have no responsibility for performance appraisals of one another
3) they have no input into setting compensation of one another
4) they do not control the budget from which the pay of another is drawn
5) there is no real or perceived conflict of interest

A relative is defined as spouse; natural, step or adopted parent' in-law; brother; sister; son; daughter; or grandparent/grandchild.

Employees brought on during an acquisition will be reviewed on a case by case basis. All employees hired after the effective date of this employee handbook will be subject to this policy.

Hope this helps.

Paul in Cannon Beach · November 2002

Rob,

Here is another link to some info on nepotism:

[url]http://www.hrhero.com/neln/forum/DCForumID14/628.html[/url]

We dont have a nepotism policy here because it hasn't been an issue and we are located in a tiny coastal town. We have "mom and pop" roots so family members working here has and probably will continue. Its just not a problem.

It was a bit awkward though recently when I had an assistant position open and our executive director's son was looking for a job. I just would have treated him like any other applicant. He didn't apply so it never became an issue.

Paul

wiremanufacturer · November 2002

I have the "privilage" of working in one of those company's where the main owner brought his son in to work in a department that he had no experience in. This now means that he doesn't really have to do his work, he can pawn it off on everyone else. What will happen? Do you really think that daddy would fire him?
My point to this (Ok besides needing to vent after one of his idiotic episodes) is that by hiring in immediate family in some positions causes hard feelings for the rest of the ee in the company.

Forrister7 · December 2002

Here's our unofficial policy:
Son of Managing Partner can come and go as he pleases with no questions asked or disciplinary action considered.
Son of Managing Partner can do little or no work without fear of reprisal. Also, he can screw up his job but someone else will be blamed for his mess. And he can resist suggestions about improving his job performance because he's already perfect.
Son of Managing Partner gets four times the pay increase that everyone else does.
Policies can sometimes be written around Son of Managing Partner; e.g. our attendance policy went into effect after Son took time off which would've been in violation of the policy, had it gone into effect as soon as it was written and distributed.

Think this all creates resentment and feelings of demoralization among his fellow employees who have to actually work for a living? You bet it does!

wiremanufacturer · December 2002

Wait a minute I think that we must work for the same company.

ritaanz · December 2002

You can have a nepotism policy in place but it will only be as good as the owner(s) allow it to be. I worked for a manufacturing company as HR Director and the SON after graduating college came to work. The owner (father) thought that he should learn the ropes by starting in HR. I was instructed that I had 3 months to train him to be my back-up and then he would move on to another department. Within the first week, SON has a seizure while sitting in on an interview. The owner then tells me that his son has epilepsy and it will be my responsibility to make sure he takes his medication. This guy is 24 years old! It was the longest 3 months I have experienced. Coming in late, leaving early, long lunches, taking days off (the attendance policy didn't work either)was the norm. But, surprisingly, our employees' morale did not suffer. They recognized SON for the spoiled brat that he was. After "learning" HR in 3 months he moved on to Customer Service. x:-)

cebudragonlady · December 2002

Now, will the Customers recognize the SON as a spoiled brat or will the Customers take their business elsewhere?

ritaanz · December 2002

Aha! Funny you asked the right question. He was as effective in Customer Service as he was in HR. Same type of attendace issues, same "no interest" attitude. The CS Manager almost lost his job because he expected the SON to work along side the other CS Reps. Luckily, SON was removed from CS before there was any customer contact and because there was a "personality" clash with the CS Mgr. That's when dear ole dad thought that an MBA for SON would be the logical next step since SON now knew how a business is run.

In all fairness, there were 2 owners/partners. I am convinced that the other partner told father to get his SON out of the business.

Pork · December 2002

HireFire01: after 26 years of HR work and one with a very straight forward background coming from the military which absolutely stopped all direct family working relationships! However, after getting away from the military I have found in the civilian world both situations: as failures and successes. Like one says it all depends on the senior leadership and how they support policy and procedures with all of the other ees. In my present organization we have all sorts of family working relationships. We have a husband who works and supports directly the responsibilities of the wife/supervisor, who is now "expecting" and will soon go out on FMLA. The husband has picked up some of her load and we all look forward to "Amanda" having her child and returning to work. There may have to be a pouch on her chest, but Amanda says she'll be back quickly. We attempt to control the working relationships and transfer as necessary to keep the situations of supervision to a minimum. I would interview the senior management team and get their views as to how strong and supportive they will be before I attempted to write a very tight and strong nepotism policy. Pork

"Daddy, can I have a raise?"

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