Audit of Five Specific Staffing Processes - City of Ottawa

Audit of Five Specific Staffing Processes
the need to be sensitive to these and the obligation to govern ones actions to avoid
contravening the spirit and intent of the policy.
The policy description reads as follows:
“One of the City’s human resources objectives is to hire the best candidate available
for each vacancy, while taking into consideration the legal requirements imposed by
such things as collective agreements. While strong family relationships are to be
encouraged, these should not form the basis of an employment decision within a
large government organization. As a consequence, the City prohibits employment
situations where family members would:
1.1.1 Be supervised by, or subordinate to, one another;
1.1.2 Be given preferential treatment in being recruited and/or selected fro
vacancies; or
1.1.3 Be appointed to positions where job responsibilities would be
incompatible with positions occupied by family members.
While this policy is intended to apply solely to immediate family relations (defined
as child, parent, spouse) employees and elected officials should be cognizant that
broader familial ties and other close personal relationships may give rise to the same
concerns surrounding real or perceived conflicts as those specifically address in this
policy. As a result, employees and elected officials who find themselves in such
situations should be sensitive to these concerns and govern themselves in keeping
with the spirit and intent of this policy.”
Upon review of this file, it is apparent through the conduct, behaviour and
influence of this manager throughout the competition and that of xxx direct reports
as well as the Manager of Revenue, that there was disregard for the policy or at the
very least a lack of understanding of the intent and spirit of the policy, and poor
judgment in not fulfilling their responsibility as managers to protect the integrity of
the City’s hiring and employment practices.
While strictly speaking this family relationship xxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxx xxx xxxx
xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxx, it most certainly infringes on
the intent and spirit of the policy and the need for employees to be cognizant that
broader familial ties and other close relationships may give rise to the same
concerns surrounding real or perceived conflicts as those specifically addressed in
the policy. There is a critical need for the City to advocate more strongly to its
employees who find themselves in such situations to be sensitive to these concerns
and govern themselves in keeping with the spirit and intent of this policy.
Page 10 Office of the Auditor General 2009 Annual Report