Policies approved on prohibiting certain relationships, employing family members

The President’s Cabinet at Western Washington University recently has approved the following policies:

• Employing Family Members and Significant Others (POL-U5410.01)
• Prohibiting Consensual Intimate Personal Relationships Between Supervisors and Supervisees (POL-U1600.06)

The Employing Family Members and Significant Others policy is a major revision of the Conflict of Interest Resulting from Family Relationship policy. Changes to the policy include:

• Clarification that the policy applies only to non-faculty positions and that rules for faculty are addressed in bargaining unit contracts
• Change in definition of “Family” members  and addition of “Significant Others”
• Designation of the Ethics Officer as position responsible for monitoring and making determinations
• Requirement of employees and applicants to disclose relationships when applicable
• Requirement of supervisors to report possible conflicts of interest

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Chyerl Wolfe-Leein Human Resources at 360-650-3630.

The Prohibiting Consensual Intimate Personal Relationships between Supervisors and Supervisees policy is a new policy that prohibits intimate personal relationships between supervisors and their supervisees.  The purpose of this new policy is to:

• Promote professionalism in supervisor-supervisee relationships, which require an environment of mutual trust and respect
• Clarify that consensual personal relationships between supervisors and supervisees that are intimate (emotionally or physically) or romantic or sexual in nature are in violation of this Policy
• Recognize that the voluntariness of a supervisee’s consent may be questionable due to the power differential that exists between supervisors and supervisees and may result in claims of sexual harassment
• Refer employees to Policy U5410.01 Employing Family Members and Significant Others for guidance if you are in a family or significant other relationship with a supervisor or supervisee

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, vice provost for Equal Opportunity and Employment Diversity and Western's ADA and Title IX coordinator, at 360-650-3307.

It is the responsibility of all employees to be familiar with university policies and procedures.