This resolution will be voted on Monday Nov. 23 during the 2 p.m. meeting of the Allegany County Legislature.
Intro.
No. 255-20 RESOLUTION NO. Page 1 of 2 pages
AMENDING THE ALLEGANY
COUNTY EMPLOYMENT OF RELATIVES POLICY
Offered by: Personnel Committee
WHEREAS,
by Resolution No. 66-99 the Employment of Relatives Policy was adopted, and
WHEREAS,
this Board wishes to amend the Employment of Relatives Policy to help identify
conflicts and address them, now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED:
1. That paragraph 6 from the original
Employment of Relatives Policy stating “This policy shall not apply to summer
employment” shall be deleted from the policy.
2. That the Model Code of Ethics for Local
Governments Section 14 shall be added to the policy stating:
Except as
otherwise required by law:
(a) No
municipal officer or employee, either individually or as a member of a board,
may participate in any decision specifically to appoint, hire, promote,
discipline, or discharge a relative for any position at, for, or within the
municipality or a municipal board.
(b) No
municipal officer or employee may supervise a relative in the performance of
the relative’s official powers or duties.
3. That the Allegany County Board of
Legislators does adopt the following amended Employment of Relatives Policy
with the above stated changes:
EMPLOYMENT
OF RELATIVES POLICY
The County
of Allegany has a legitimate governmental interest in avoiding conflicts of
interest between work-related and family-related obligations, reducing
favoritism, nepotism, or even the appearance of such and preventing family
conflicts from affecting the work place.
Recognizing this legitimate governmental interest and in light of the
fact that applications for county employment are sometimes submitted by
immediate family members of county officers and employees, the following policy
is hereby instituted.
For
purposes of this policy, the immediate family is defined as a spouse, mother,
father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandfather, grandmother,
grandfather-in-law, grandmother-in-law, child, grandchild, brother, sister,
brother-in-law, sister-in-law, persons in standing in loco parentis, or any
other person considered a dependent for federal or state income tax purposes.
Intro. No. 255-20 Page
2 of 2 pages
The
Personnel Officer shall establish in the case of each applicant for employment
whether an immediate family relationship exists between that applicant and any
officer, whether appointed or elected, or employee of the County of Allegany.
No county
officer or employee may participate in the decision of whether to hire or not
hire a member of his or her immediate family.
Prior to
the employment of any person who, by the above definition, is determined to be
an immediate family member of an officer or employee of the County of Allegany,
the Personnel Officer shall notify the Personnel Committee of the Board of
Legislators. The Personnel Committee of
the Board of Legislators, upon consultation with the Personnel Officer, may make
exceptions to this policy in cases in which such exceptions will, in the sole
discretion of the Personnel Committee, further the best interests of the County
of Allegany.
Except as otherwise required by law:
(a) No municipal officer or employee, either individually
or as a member of a board, may participate in any decision specifically to
appoint, hire, promote, discipline, or discharge a relative for any position
at, for, or within the municipality or a municipal board.
(b) No municipal officer or employee may supervise a
relative in the performance of the relative’s official powers or duties.
4. That this policy statement shall be
effective immediately upon adoption.
5. That
certified copies of this resolution be sent by the Clerk of this Board to all
Department Heads.
