The Postal Service is marking USPS Ethics Awareness Week by reminding employees that nepotism is prohibited in the workplace.
Under the rules, USPS employees cannot hire or promote a relative, which is defined as a spouse, parent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law, stepparent, stepsibling or half sibling.
Employees are also prohibited from taking direct or indirect action related to a relative’s career at the Postal Service.
Reporting relationships between relatives can also raise ethical concerns.
For example, an employee is not permitted to report directly to his or her spouse.
Reporting relationships between other relatives can also raise concerns about nepotism and misuse of position.
For this reason, a higher-level relative in a reporting relationship should generally recuse themselves from taking actions that financially benefit a lower-level relative, such as making decisions regarding compensation, promotions, overtime, leave requests or detail assignment requests.
Another employee should be designated to perform these tasks.
Reporting relationships between relatives can raise workplace environment concerns beyond ethics regulations.
Human Resources and Labor Relations should always be consulted regarding reporting relationships between relatives.
The Ethics Blue page covers these topics in more detail. For more information, employees can email the Postal Service’s ethics helpline or call 202-268-6346.
