Administrative Procedure 441: Supervision of a Family Member

Ontario Human Rights Code

Situations in which a family member is a supervisor of another family member may lead to perceptions of nepotism or favouritism. These perceptions would not be helpful in creating good employee relationships at the worksite and in fact may lead to unnecessary conflict. Conflicts could potentially arise over the supervisor’s management of issues such as the type of assignments and job expectations of staff. In addition, disciplinary and job performance issues would present a significant challenge for any supervisor.

 

For purposes of this procedure, a family member shall be defined as a person’s spouse/partner, parents, brother and sister (including step-brother and step-sister), child, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws such as parent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law.

 

An employee of the board shall not participate in a decision to appoint or hire any family member. An appointment, transfer, or promotion shall not be made if a candidate would be placed in direct supervision of a supervisor or subordinate relationship with a family member. This procedure is consistent with the Ontario Human Rights Code, specifically Section 24.

 

Amended October 2019