COMPLIANCE CHATTER

Ethics Edition

Search committees play a vital role in recruiting, evaluating, and recommending the most

qualified candidates for employment by the University. 

Sometimes, an employee might face a situation where they are serving on a search committee and a family member applies to the position. What does this mean for the employee?

It is important to remember that per the University's Policy on Employment and Contracting for Service of Relatives, UConn and UConn Health, employees may not use their official position for the financial benefit of a family member.

The UConn Policy on Employment and Contracting for Service of Relatives is in place to mitigate these types of conflicts, and to ensure ethical practices related to hiring and working with relatives. Under the policy, a family member is defined as: spouse, child or step-child, child's spouse, parent, sibling, sibling-in-law, dependent relative, or relative living in your household.

Check out this Compliance Clip to learn more.

You are serving as a member of a search committee and in reviewing applications, you realize that your sister-in-law applied for the position. You think to yourself, "She would be a great fit! I will make sure she is included in the first round of interviews."

In this case, doing so would be considered using your position on the search committee to potentially benefit a family member financially, which would violate the policy.

In addition, remember that no employee may use their position to influence an employment action of a non-relative if such action could benefit one’s relative. For example, disqualifying or minimizing the qualifications of other applicants to make your sister-in-law's application stronger would also be a violation of the policy.

You are required to complete a Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure Form. The COI form is designed to assist employees with disclosing potential or actual conflict of interest as well as document any mitigation action put in place to resolve the conflict.

It is also in your best interest to:

• Notify the search chair and the committee of the nature of the relationship; and
• Recuse yourself from the entire committee if unable to perform an objective and equitable review of all candidates; or
• Recuse yourself from the evaluation and interview of only the known applicant, with the agreement of the chair and committee

You are a member of a search committee and you realize that your good friend or professional acquaintance applied for the position. Is your continued involvement in the search committee a conflict of interest according to the policy?

While this is not considered a conflict of interest as defined by the policy, it is important to exercise caution.

You should consider whether you can objectively review all applicants including your friend for the position, or if you have an actual or perceived bias based on your relationship. It may be in the best interest of all involved to follow the steps above to recuse yourself from part or the search process in its entirety.

At any point in the search process, the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) is available for consultation, to answer questions and discuss specific situations, offer recommendations and search committee training.

You can also contact the Office of University Compliance with questions regarding conflicts of interest, The State Code of Ethics, and the Policy on Employment and Contracting for Service of Relatives.

Review additional Compliance Clips and Chatters.