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Employment of Relatives
City of Lynnwood, WA
Policy No. 220

I. Purpose

To establish the City's policy regarding the employment of relatives.

II. Policy

A. The City of Lynnwood will not employ the immediate family of current city employees and elected City officials where:

1. One of the parties would have authority (or practical power) to supervise, appoint, remove, or discipline the other;

2. One party would handle confidential material that creates improper or inappropriate access to that material by the other;

3. One party would be responsible for auditing the work of the other; or

4. Other circumstances exist that might lead to potential conflict among the parties or conflict between the interest of one or both parties and the best interests of the City.

In cases where such situations clearly do not exist, the City will allow the employment of relatives.

B. Change in Circumstances: If two employees marry, become related or begin sharing living quarters with one another, and in the City's judgment, the potential problems noted above exist or reasonably could exist, only one of the employees will be permitted to remain employed with the City, unless reasonable accommodations, as determined by the Mayor can be made to eliminate the potential problem. The decision as to which employee will remain with the City must be made by the two employees within thirty (30) calendar days of the date they marry, become related, or begin sharing living quarters with each other. If no decision is made during this time, the City reserves the right to terminate either employee.

The Mayor may, on a case-by-case basis without any precedent setting, approve a formal request for a temporary exemption from the provisions of this policy. Such exemption is always temporary and may be subject to cancellation by the Mayor without notice, explanation or justification. When a temporary exemption is made, the Mayor may require affected employees to sign a letter of understanding at his/her discretion.

III. Definitions for Purposes of this Policy

"Relatives" include current spouse, children (including step children), parents (including step parents), grandparents, brothers and sisters. "Spouse" means those employees having a legal marital relationship or a recognized long-term shared living quarters relationship.

Approved:

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