Employment of Family Members Policy

In order to avoid conflicts of interest and to promote impartial collegial participation in making decisions by consensus on important issues, Eastern Mennonite University will use the following guidelines when employing members of the same family:

1.     Each family member’s primary employment is in a different department.
2.     No family member is in the line of supervision of another family member.
3.     No two department directors within a division will be members of the same family.

The “same family” is defined as persons related by:

1.     Marriage (i.e. husband, wife, in-laws)
2.     Birth or adoption (i.e. parent, child, sibling)

Further clarifications:

•     No family member of the Human Resources Director shall be employed by the university.
•     This policy does not apply to those hired prior to the approval date of this policy.
•     Adjunct faculty are subject to this policy.
•     Leadership responsibilities for cross-cultural teams are exempt from this policy.
•     Job sharing may be considered as an exception when the spirit of the policy is maintained with appropriate written safeguards.
•     Further exceptions to this policy may be granted by the president.

Approved by the Board of Trustees, November 15, 1999