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RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JONESBORO, ARKANSAS, TO AMEND A PORTION OF THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK FOR ALL EMPLOYEES FOR THE CITY OF JONESBORO
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WHEREAS, the current Employee Handbook was previously revised by Res-24:167 on December 17, 2024; and
WHEREAS, this handbook serves as the primary policies and procedures manual for all employees; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to revise a portion of the employee handbook regarding the City’s nepotism policy.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JONESBORO, ARKANSAS, THAT:
SECTION 1: The entirety of the section of the Employee Handbook titled “Nepotism and Personal Dating Relationships,” beginning with the title on page eight (8) and continuing onto page nine (9), up to but not including the section entitled “Drug-Free Work Place Policy,” is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
NEPOTISM AND PERSONAL DATING RELATIONSHIPS
Nepotism
The City welcomes the opportunity to hire and retain qualified employees who are related to one another by blood or marriage. However, since such relationships sometimes can create problems in the workplace, including suspicions of favoritism if the related employees are in a supervisor/subordinate relationship, it is the policy of the City that:
1. Any employee of the city who is a relative (defined below) or becomes a relative with another employee shall not have any direct or indirect administrative or operational authority over the other person. This prohibition means not only that a person cannot supervise a relative but also that the relative cannot be in that person's chain of command; for example, a relative cannot work in a department in which a relative is their supervisor.
2. An employee of the city cannot use his/her authority or position with the city to benefit or to disadvantage another employee in a familial relationship. Although all such potential misuses of authority cannot be listed here, examples include an employee signing an evaluation for a relative or signing/approving a check payable to a relative.
3. Employees are required to notify the city’s Human Resources Department of (a) any existing familial relationships; (b) any familial relationships that are created among employees (for example, by marriage of two employees); and (c) the potential employment by the city of a relative.
4. The city will refuse to hire a job applicant who is a relative of a current employee if the applicant or current employee would be in a supervisory or subordinate position to one another. City employees who marry one another during their employment will be allowed to remain with the city unless they are in a superior-subordinate relationship and there is no open position to which one of them may be moved.
5. Any person who is a relative of the Mayor or any City Council member will not be eligible for hire with the City during the term of the Mayor or City Council member. A relative of either the City Clerk or the City Attorney will be eligible for hire with the City so long as they do not work in the office or under the supervision of the elected official with whom they share a familial relationship.
6. “Familial relationship” within the meaning of this policy means a husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, grandfather, grandmother, grandson or granddaughter, or any of those relationships arising as a result of marriage (for example, brother-in-law).
7. “Relative” means anyone with whom there is a familial relationship.All hires that may be considered nepotism will require the Mayor’s or the Mayor’s designee’s approval. Failure to obtain the Mayor’s or the Mayor’s designee’s approval will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination. Neither the Mayor nor the Mayor’s designee may approve a new hire in violation of numbered paragraph 5 of this policy regarding relatives of elected officials. It is important that any relationship that may cause a conflict of interest be reported to Human Resources for the necessary approvals.
Personal Dating Relationships
The City realizes that personal relations of a romantic nature may develop between co-workers, and while the City does not wish to ban all such relationships outright, those who choose to engage in such relationships do so at their own risk, with knowledge their employment may be affected if the relationship results in inappropriate or unprofessional behavior, negatively impacts the common good or morale of other employees, or creates conflicts of interest. If such relationships exist between employees, then employees must report it to their supervisor(s) and HR. The City reserves the right to take the appropriate action it deems necessary. Dating relationships, in which one of the employees is the direct supervisor, are prohibited.
If you plan on entering into a dating relationship with another employee in your department, and one of you is in a direct supervisory position, the following actions must be taken.
1. You must notify your supervisor and the Human Resource Director immediately.
2. One of you will be required to resign or transfer to another department, if there is a position available, within 30 calendar days.
3. You may mutually agree on which one of you will transfer or resign.
4. If you cannot agree, the employee with the lower classification will be required to transfer or resign.
SECTION 2: The Employee Handbook Table of Contents shall be amended to the extent necessary to accurately reflect the sections and page numbers.
SECTION 3: Any portion of the Employee Handbook not specifically revised, deleted, or amended herein shall remain in full force and effect.