San Francisco Unified School District and County Office of Education
Board Policy 4012.8
All Personnel – Personal Relationships
This Board Policy applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.
The Governing Board desires to maximize staff and community confidence in district hiring, promotion, and other employment decisions by promoting practices that are free of conflicts of interest or the appearance of impropriety.
(cf. 4030 – Nondiscrimination in Employment)
(cf. 9270 – Conflict of Interest)
Employee Relationships
The Board strongly believes that a work environment where employees maintain clear boundaries between employee personal and business interactions is most effective for conducting business and enhancing productivity. Although this policy does not prevent the development or existence of personal relationships between co-workers, it does establish boundaries as to how relationships are conducted during working hours and within the working environment.
(cf. 4111/4211/4311 – Recruitment and Selection)
(cf. 4115 – Evaluation/Supervision)
(cf. 4215 – Evaluation/Supervision)
(cf. 4315 – Evaluation/Supervision)
For purposes of this policy, a personal relationship exists when that relationship has the potential to create (1) an adverse impact on hiring, supervision, safety, security, or morale of other district employees or (2) a conflict of interest for the individuals involved which is greater because of their relationship than it would be for another person. For example, a personal relationship exists when individuals are dating or they are relatives. Relatives include an individual’s spouse, domestic partner, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and the similar family of the individual’s spouse or domestic partner.
No person in a management or supervisory position shall have a personal relationship with an applicant whom he or she has hiring authority or the ability to influence or an employee whom he or she directly or indirectly supervises. For purposes of this policy, direct or indirect supervision exists when the supervisor has the ability to influence the terms or conditions of employment (examples of terms or conditions of employment include evaluation, promotion, termination, discipline and compensation).
Prior Employee Relationships
To the extent possible, a supervisor or manager who has had a previous personal relationship with an employee the supervisor directly or indirectly supervises, the supervisor or manager will not be involved in decisions relating to that individual’s hiring, assignments, promotions, raises, termination or other terms and conditions of employment.
Policy Protocols and Consequences
A supervisory employee shall notify his/her supervisor within 30 days of any change in his/her circumstances that may constitute a violation of this policy. An employee who is involved in a personal relationship (as defined above) with his/her supervisor shall notify the Director of Employee Relations within 30 days of any change in his/her circumstances that may constitute a violation of this policy.
Individuals involved in a relationship covered by this policy may be asked to sign a document acknowledging that their relationship is entirely consensual and free from coercion and harassment. If the relationship is covered by this policy the supervisor may be subject to demotion or transfer to remove the conflict of interest.
At the discretion of the Superintendent and/or his/her designee, in addition to or instead of demotion or transfer, one of the individuals involved in the relationship may elect to transfer or separate from the District. If transfer or separation is appropriate and permissible under the terms of the applicable collective bargaining agreement, the individuals involved in the relationship may be provided the opportunity to select one employee in the relationship who will be subject to a change in employment status (transfer or separation).
Professionalism
Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. Workplace personal relationships must not interfere with any employee’s professionalism, including treating others with respect and refraining from behavior that may make others feel uncomfortable (for example, overt physical displays of affection or using sexual language). In particular, management personnel are expected to set a high standard of professional conduct both at work and in any social setting at events sponsored by the District. For this reason, management personnel are prohibited from social interaction with subordinates that is, or a reasonable person would perceive as, inappropriate (for example, unwanted flirting, touching or other behavior that may be regarded as sexual harassment).
Discretion and Non-discrimination
The District retains discretion in its enforcement of this policy. Decisions made under this policy will be made based on legitimate, educationally-related needs of the District and without regard to a person’s actual or perceived race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, or sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by law, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state or local law.
Employees Covered under a Collective Bargaining Agreement
This policy shall work in conjunction with, and does not replace, amend or supplement any terms or conditions of employment stated in any collective bargaining agreement between employees’ exclusive representative and the District. Wherever employment details in this policy differ from the terms expressed in a collective bargaining agreement, employees should refer to the specific terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which will control.
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
35107 School district employees
FAMILY CODE
297-297.5 Rights, protections, benefits under the law; registered domestic partners
GOVERNMENT CODE
1090-1098 Prohibitions applicable to specified officers
12940 Unlawful employment practices
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 2
7292.0-7292.6 Marital status discrimination, especially:
7292.5 Employee selection
Management Resources:
WEB SITES
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing: http://www.dfeh.ca.gov
Institute for Local Government: http://www.cacities.org/index.jsp?zone=ilsg
Please note that compare references, or “cf”, refer to CSBA model policies and do not necessarily indicate that the San Francisco Unified School District has adopted the referenced policy.