City of Columbus makes change to nepotism policy
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus City Council has made a change to its nepotism policy.
Having family members working together can create some problems.
City leaders want to minimize that friction without having to pass over possible applicants just because they are related to a city employee.
After reviewing the current state policy, the City Council voted to amend the city’s nepotism rules and allow family members to work in the same department, as long as they are not being supervised by a family member.
City leaders believe the new policy provides safeguards and could help with recruitment, especially in certain areas.
“Our previous policy, they could not even work together. But as you know, in police and fire departments, a lot of them like to carry on the legacy of their parents, so that allows them to be able to work together, just not be able to be supervised. So that is why we rejected that policy, withdrew that policy, and we had to come up with a new one. When I was elected, I felt it was important that we come up with a new one, so it would be fair to all employees,” said Columbus Mayor Stephen Jones.
There were some concerns raised about spouses and people in personal relationships with one another being employed in the same departments.
