Ethics Q & A
October 31, 2005
By Jane Garthson, Mills
Garthson & Associates
The question:
Is it okay for family members to work or volunteer in the same organization?
Jane says...
Recruiting our family members as volunteers has been part of nonprofit life from the start. They are often a wonderful source of time and expertise, willing to give their time because they are familiar with the cause, know how much one person in the family cares about it, and see the volunteering as a way to spend more time together.
Relationships become problematic when one family member has control, influence, or perceived influence over hiring, promotion, evaluation, compensation, perks, work assignments, hours of work, or any other aspect of work, paid or unpaid.
My first column for Ethics Q&A (Founder & Spouse: November 2003) dealt with the worst situation, where the chair and the executive director are closely related.
Generally, I regard it as unethical to bring someone into a workplace relationship where one family member is directly or indirectly supervising another. There is no way the other employees or volunteers can ever see the situation as fair. Every decision will be scrutinized, and found wanting in terms of objectivity, at least. Even as simple a matter as who goes first for database training will be deemed influenced by the relationship. The perception will often be accurate, as unconscious bias sometimes creeps in. Sometimes the supervisor leans over backwards to avoid favouring a family member - becoming unfair to them.
This includes volunteer positions, as there may be openings for more desirable or responsible positions in the organization. A family member can influence the volunteer placements of other family members. I am, of course, also including boards themselves, as I feel there are many ethical pitfalls to having more than one family member on a board of directors and little to gain. Even many family foundations have been adding unrelated directors, sometimes into the majority.
Some readers may be thinking that they see many effective family businesses around. Why are government and nonprofit organizations held to a higher standard? Simple. They operate with public monies (at minimum in terms of foregone tax revenue). If you want to take a risk on your brother-in-law in your private business, it is your money. In a nonprofit, it is our money, so we the public are entitled to see fair hiring and evaluation taking place.
In a large organization, where a person works in a division or location well removed from the other family member's presence and supervisory influence, the situation should be manageable even if levels are different. Peer situations may work out fine even in the same location or division. However, both parties must recognize that the relationship may reduce their ability to apply for promotions or other changes that might bring them into a closer or different working relationship. And both must scrupulously avoid getting involved in any way in performance reviews or employment decisions of the other, no matter how much you might think your sibling is being mistreated.
In an organization with a board of directors, the directors all directly or indirectly supervise every staff member, and therefore should not be on the board of an organization that employs a family or household member. They can volunteer somewhere else. If there is an executive director or equivalent position, the same applies to them. Even forwarding a resume of a family member without a recommendation could be regarded as pressure, and would likely be considered nepotism.
How close is close? Definitions vary, and "family or household member" should be defined in the employee manual. We normally think of family as including parents, children, spouses, siblings and grandparents. I suggest including in-laws, wards, guardians and those in a "step" relationship. Anyone else in the household in a dependent situation would be included. The niece staying with you while in university would probably be included, but the friend sharing the rent at an apartment likely would not. Under human rights law, remember that spouse includes common law and same-sex partners.
What if two employees become a couple? Or your sister marries someone who works for you? I recommend that the organization attempt to place the individuals in a way that minimizes the potential for conflict. That includes not having one member of the new couple supervise the other. If you are a board member who finds yourself in such an emerging situation, I suggest formally declare a conflict on all issues relating to employment decisions (like hours of operation, cost of living increases, changes in benefits provider) during the balance of your term, then not stand for re-election. This should be enough if you are very careful, unless the employee in question is the executive director. If a board member and an ED become related or romantically involve, someone needs to quit - fast.
Make sure in any adjustment to working conditions that options are considered based on what is best for the organization and mission achievement, as with any decision. Decades ago, it was always the junior and/or female employee who was required to change. You cannot get away with that now. If anything, the more senior person is held more accountable for necessitating a change.
Overall, I am recommending avoiding or minimizing family relationships within a nonprofit, other than as peers volunteering together or working in a way that does not involve any opportunity to make or influence decisions about the other.
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Because nonprofit organizations are formed to do good does not mean
they always are good in their own practices. Send us your ethical questions
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more. Please identify yourself and your organization so we know the questions
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please contact help@charityvillage.com. For paid professional advice about an urgent or complex situation, contact Jane directly.
Disclaimer: Advice and
recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as
a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.
