Nepotism in Perspective

Any sort of favouritism evokes negative feelings amongst people. This is even more relevant in the workplace. Nepotism can be defined as the practice of showing favouritism toward one’s family in economic or employment terms, whilst cronyism is favouritism of one’s friends. Nepotism has the potential to defy logical thinking and replace it by selfish, emotional behaviour. People who are appointed on this basis are often differently rewarded and allowed privileges to which others are not entitled, with no rational basis of merit and competence. A case of nepotism gone wrong is illustrated in the case of Sotsepo vs Kloof Gold Mine (2011) 20 CCMA 8.24.1. The employee was the H.R. administrator and his duties included ensuring that the selection process in respect of job applicants was fair and that they complied with the employer’s policies. The employee’s wife was appointed to a position in the company, and it turned out that the employee had done a number of things wrong. He allowed external applicants to apply (the job was advertised internally). The employee, together with the superintendant sat on the interviewing panel. He also submitted scores and ratings in respect of his wife’s performance at the interview. To make matters worse, he then recommended his wife for the position. The employer claimed that the employee was guilty of nepotism. At arbitration the employee claimed that he had absolutely no conflict of interest, and based this argument on his allegation that he did not know the employer’s policy on nepotism. He argued that if he had known the policy, he would not have participated in the interview process. He also did not think that there was anything wrong with his failure to disclose that the person being interviewed was his wife. The commissioner found that the employee was aware of the employer’s policies as he must have been aware of the employer’s HR manual. The commissioner found that the employee was indeed guilty of the misconduct with which he had been charged. The employee’s conduct further destroyed the trust relationship between himself and his employer and the commissioner was satisfied that there was indeed a fair reason for the employee’s dismissal. It does not mean that family members may never be appointed or promoted in an organisation. It is however important that procedures are prescribed that it are objective, transparent and non-discriminatory. The only way for an employer to properly defend its business against the possibility of unfair nepotism charges, is to have very clear and strict recruitment and selection policies as well as performance management and promotion policies in place. Written by D.A SWANEPOEL 11 May 2015