I work for a federal agency and both my brother in law and myself went for the same job. It would be a promotion for me, but a lateral for him from another sector. He has always been in my boss's back pocket even after he left our department. We get along, but I'm worried now. He will be my direct supervisor. Will he be facing any legal issues if it gets reported? I don't think he would favor me or display nepotism, but it does mean he lied on the application by not answering the question about family. I didn't mention it because my boss told me he would transfer me if I said anything.
BIL could at least lose this position
They could also move OP under another supervisor. It's also possible that BIL may not have lied on his application. Regardless, OP needs to bring this up ASAP as it's a conflict.
Yes, I am really concerned that this will bite OP in the butt.
It’s not the responsibility of OP to report this, it is the BIL’a duty (or other management official) to report it. Otherwise, once others catch wind, OIG is a good place to anonymously report such violations of law.
I agree. The thing is, though, OP is aware that this is a relative so not sure how it might "appear." OP's in a tough spot, because I get the sense they don't want to get BIL fired. So either OP gets them to move him somewhere else, finds another position themself, or reports this. Maybe there's another option. IDK.
It is his responsibility as it is all employees responsibility to report known violations. OP can be negatively impacted if this is discovered and they never come forward even though they have knowledge of it.
Clear COI. A relative cannot report to a relative.
The solution is one of you is removed from the other's chain - either you get a new supervisor, or he gets a new team.
You can still work in the same unit, but you cannot report to him. Simple solution is his boss takea over as your supervisor.
Yup. We've got a lot of families in my organization and there have been multiple cases of reassigning the lower-level employee under the next-higher supervisor.
Wait your boss told you to not say anything? That is a major red flag. He’s setting you up to take the fall if anyone reports this, you need to to file a complaint.
The boss likes his BIL so much that he allowed this situation to happen. OP is definitely not going to have anyone on their side when this comes out.
If OP doesn't find an exit, one is going to be found for him when this gets discovered.
Why would OP be punished for not reporting? It doesn't seem like he's the one who made the decisions in this case.
Yall have paranoia and anxiety through the roof. Yall make it seem like it would be the end of the world for OP.
You are reading too far into this.
An exit isn't necessarily getting fired. He'll be transferred, like OP said his boss threatened to do. OP was clearly already applying to jobs, so apply to some more and call your own shot
The job I applied to was under the same boss, just going for my current supervisor’s job who retires in 3 weeks.
Second. Document what he said in a crafty email that you send to him. This should be recorded in near real time so you have evidence should something underhanded try to go down.
Yeah, that's a call to the ombudsman.
I didn't mention it because my boss told me he would transfer me if I said anything.
This sounds like a coverup and threat of whistleblower retaliation. Your OIG would find this interesting.
no way to prove it
Testimony is evidence.
The OIG also loves cocky people
its one person vs another if no one heard anything
One person who already lost credibility by knowingly hiring a family member as another’s supervisor.
could go one way or the other yeah. the gov definitely protects it's own tho, doubt anything will happen to them.
Maybe some well connected political SES, but a front line supervisor and manager no.
Having been around these things. The government will throw staff under the bus so quickly it isn’t even funny especially since this is such a blatant violation. They don’t subsidize the insurance because they are being nice.
Most of the “protections” are when staff screw things up that hobble investigations, skip steps of the process, just flat out laziness towards not holding people accountable. The OIGs don’t have this problem because it’s their job
entirely depends on what agency your at. there's how things are "supposed" to work then there's how they actually work
Well the job of the OIG is to enforce the supposed to work because rouge managers think that statements like this give them a blank slate to do as they want.
This case is not something with a lot of grey. It’s a blatant violation. The supervisor knows it, the employee knows it, and the incoming employee probably does.
The employee has now been told to not say anything or face retaliation. This isn’t hard to find fault with, especially since an investigation will inevitably find evidence they knew of the family relationship.
they can certainly go report it and see if anything happens or not
This is a mess
Your boss told you not to report it? Did he hopefully send that in writing?
OIG’s dream
I didn't mention it because my boss told me he would transfer me if I said anything.
Your boss threatened you?!?!
Im not sure. was it meant as a threat, or did OP just misunderstand the conversation?
i believe it would be required to 'transfer' one of them so that OP is not a direct report to his BIL. it's not wrong to hire the family member. they just cannot be in a direct line of supervision. that would be illegal.
Sounds more to me like a "don't talk about it because if anyone knows you would have to be transferred" situation.
not really any better... but just sayin. lol
You need to send an email to your boss that you are concerned because this is against policy. This creates a paper record that he is aware of it. I guarantee if it gets out or if your BIL is a bad boss or starts making things hard for you he is going to say he had no idea of the situation. If he responds to you not to report it but not in writing, send a follow up email saying you just want to be clear that he said not to report it because again, that is against policy. This way he's not blindsided if you do go to HR and you have it in writing that he was made aware of it when you do go to HR and yes, you really do need to go to HR and request either you or he be transferred.
Not just against policy, but against law.
As much as I like your plan, my boss is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Whenever I think I have a good argument, he hits me from a spot I never considered. Dude is crafty.
It doesn't matter how smart he is. It's the law.
It's not about him, it's about you protecting yourself. Even if he knows what you're doing, so what? Like I said, if he does know and doesn't respond in writing and responds to you in person, you follow up with another email. Then it's in writing that he is aware of it. He will also know you're thinking of reporting it so it's not a total surprise if you report it after he told you not to. Ask yourself this, if your boss is willing to break the law here, do you think he won't break the law or the rules again? Do you think he would hesitate to blame anything on you to save his own career? Do you want to spend everyday worrying if it will come out and if you'll lose your job? Whether you want to give him a heads up or not with the email is up to you but you do need to report it to HR either way. It really shouldn't be that big a deal, they should just be able to transfer you to another supervisor.
I understand this is a difficult situation, but by not reporting his unlawful behavior, you might be enabling it. While this may sound harsh, it's important to consider the long-term consequences. The situation could worsen if not addressed, not just for you, but for others under your bosses direct chain of command, either now or in the future.
That being said, your well-being and peace of mind are just as important. I empathize with your situation and recognize the impact it has on your and your family’s well-being. Have you discussed this with your spouse? I’m sure many folks reading this post would benefit from knowing their perspective of the situation.
Dude is crafty.
All the best criminals are
If this guy thinks he can get away with this, he’s very much not smart. You’ve received sound advice in this thread.
Your boss is not to be trusted. If you have a union you need to setup a meeting ASAP to discuss how to protect yourself.
If your boss threatened you with transfer then you 1000% need to report this.
Oh my god please say sike
This is will eventually be discovered. Get your affairs in order.
HR needs a phone call immediately.
At my agency, my husband and I worked in the same unit. Nurses. Neither of us charge nurse, but HR forced us along with our supervisor to sign a nepotism agreement stating that neither of us would be allowed to work charge in a supervisory position over the other.
There are some very unethical people surrounding you who know they are breaking rules.
This is against OPM policies.
Seen in the most uncharitable light, your boss appears to be committing a crime (2302(b)(6)) and should be reported to your Department’s ethics office. See page 19 of https://www.mspb.gov/studies/studies/Preventing_Nepotism_in_the_Federal_Civil_Service_1315054.pdf#page32
And then bone up on whistleblower protections because any retaliation (your forced transfer to another office) is also illegal.
That all said, I know of many instances in which members of the same family are in the same chain of command. To address this issue, the subordinate individual is simply administrated/supervised by someone outside of the chain of command. That doesn’t mean the position changes, it means the agency adjusts to accommodate the situation.
Regardless, under no circumstances is it ever legally permissible for you to be supervised by a family member (see page 1 of the above link).
Discuss with the Union.
Also need to let the ethics officials know.
Your boss said WHAT?!
I would write an e-mail to the boss and cc the leadership chain asking for clarification “per our conversation”. I would also state that any negative repercussions against myself would be viewed as retaliatory in nature. Don’t be afraid of your bosses in the federal workforce. I would also do a FOIA request asking for my rate and ranking from the interview.
Some of these comments! 1. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re not getting fired or disciplined (which is near impossible anyway). 2. It’s not your responsibility to ensure you’re not supervised by a relative, that’s your supervisor’s and his boss’s responsibility. 3. If you feel you want to cover yourself, simply send the boss an email stating you just want him to know you’re being supervised by your BIL, you don’t know if this is a conflict or not and you’re not complaining, you’re just ensuring he knows. 4. It possible this has already been though an agency ethics official and they’re working a plan to put you under another supervisor (i’ve seen this happen several times).
They will remove him when they find out. All birds will eventually chirp
Haha hell yeah! Time to kick back and do nothing
They will have to move you under a different supervisor.
Get out.
How sure are we that we're not roasting in hell right now?
I'm wondering if I should report my current supervisor as he moved from a non-supervisor position into the supervisor position well after his nephew had been hired into the unit. He would've had to report that, yeah? Something tells me he didn't.
Years back, an office had 2 first cousins that were peer branch chiefs. When the director position came open, they both applied and one was selected. The non-selected cousin received a directed reassignment to an office in another region. He was never happy again at our agency.
BIL should disclose this. It is incumbent on the leadership and leadership has the higher burden in disclosure. This will come out and depending on leadership your BIL should be moved. But if this is the VA, I don't have any predictions. The VA does its own thing regardless of OPM rules. That's why they are in the news so frequently or have so many OIG/whistleblower investigations.
I’ll mention another avenue that I haven’t seen mentioned after a cursory scroll. You can report this to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. They can maintain your anonymity if you request it, albeit, it seems like you might be the main suspect for reporting it and could easily be guessed as the person who reported it. Regardless, if you start to face retaliation, you can go back to OSC and file a complaint that you are being subjected to whistleblower retaliation. OSC can then investigate that and they will negotiate with the agency in an effort to protect you from retaliation or make you whole.
Wtf lmfao.
Your boss is such a fucking moron. This is going to be a dumpster fire. I don't know what you should do tbh op.
Your BIL is Lowkey a fucking dick for going for that job though.
I agree, with both parts
He should have listed you as a family member, this is an offense and I have seen many fired for this same thing. Report him now or you can be fired as well
Your BIL could lose the position. Your boss could tank his career.
If you are part of a union I’d talk to your union rep, both about the situation and what your supervisor said to you. Your supervisor isn’t allowed to say that to you.
I’ve always seen similar situations like this be resolved by moving the non-supervisor (you) over to be supervised by someone else.
And you 100% should say something because it’ll be a problem eventually but don’t say anything until your brother in law starts working.
Call an attorney specializing in federal employment law, see what they think.
Also, if your boss is as crafty as you say... May as well start looking for new opportunities? I recently transferred and I cannot overstate how much better my mental health is.
He can’t be your direct supervisor and do your performance rating - be your rating official. Conflict of interest. Nothing will happen to you. Why would he even put himself in the situation to possibly be your supervisor?
Are u Indian?
I wrote my original post as it just happened and I was a little lost. So, I know most of the people around me are shady. I know my boss is in clear violation. I have been there for 15 years. If I report this, everyone would know, and I would become a pariah. It would be career suicide, no matter how justified I may be. It would also seem like I am only doing this to get the job. I’m torn right now.
You’re not going to get that job. And if you reported the issue, I wouldn’t assume that’s why you reported. They have two options: move your BIL or move you. Since they just hired him, I assume it’s move you.
Is there somewhere you’d like to move? That’s within your org but not reporting to your BIL? Because you can probably ask to be moved to a different team / group.
This is the most logical description I've seen so far. Your boss shouldn't be trying to hide it, but he's also telling the truth that you would likely be transferred under a different supervisor/ group when this becomes known.
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5d
I like this approach as it seems agreeable for all parties. I mean, I would like the job, and everyone around knows I’m the best fit, but I’m also just tired of all the bullshit it would bring.
Depending on how much you like your sibling that married to him. Beware who you or him revealing this to. Enjoy the 5/5 rating & bonus while it last tho.
My wife is his sister. She hates him.
yike, so this potential working relationship might be used as retaliation to his fail marriage. get ahead of it to prevent him to even get the position if you like your wife.
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This is going to come out at some point. People are never as discreet as they think they are. But, yeah, it seems that your BIL could at least lose this position. Your boss is a moron for doing this.
https://www.mspb.gov/ppp/7ppp.htm