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hiring family members

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ljones05

Guest
I live in Michigan. My husband worked for a company (after being laid off from his job) through a temp service. This company is unionized and must hire the temp workers if they keep them six months. My husbands supervisor at this company and the department manager put in verbal recomendations for my husband to be hired permanetly. He worked very hard, sometimes 16 hour days. He did well on testing, had years of experience and felt great after his interview. The company did not hire him and let him go after over 5 months. They told the temp service he was a great worker but they hire on a point system, determined from testing, experience and interviewing and my husband wasn't as high as the people they hired. They hired eight people. We know one of them. He has no experience in this area, but his father works there. He said all eight people hired were family members of employees. This is a paper mill. They hired a few months before this, family members with no experience. Is this legal? Is this equal opportunity? My husband was more qualified than the hired applicants, and had recomendations from supervisors (and employees) in the plant. They claim to hire on a point system, except all the family members score the highest.
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Although I agree with you that it is unfair, it is not illegal to give preference to family members of employees.

Conversely, it is also not illegal to refuse to hire the family members of employees.
 
J

Jennifer Flower

Guest
I believe that you may have a case if you can show that the employer has discriminatory hiring practices. For example if your husband is in a protected class and he was more qualifed then individuals that were hired. You may want to check with the EEOC if that is the case.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Possibly. But the company is not required by law to hire the most qualified person. If it is their policy to give preference to family members, the poster's husband would not only have to show that his race, national origin, whatever protected class, was the reason for his non-hire, but also that the family-first policy had a disparate impact on whatever groups consititute minorities in this situation.
 
also it is not unusual for companies to use temp employees as "cheap" help. they use them and promise them and when it comes time to hire them after their probation they can them so they don't have to give them a pay increase and benefits. they do this when there is a abundance of help in the job market, if no they hire them. sucks but it happens
 
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ljones05

Guest
Thanks for all the information. My husband was not discriminated against due to any protected class, he is white (and also only 26). The only thing that is funny is they also tend to hire single people, I don't know if that is illegal. One guy we know that was hired is married but no kids (we have two). I thought maybe because of benefits, but we could never prove that anyway. Plus, there are many people working there with families. Someone mentioned that temp workers are used as cheap labor, this is true. We are lucky that in our case this company had done that so much in the past the union actually had it put in the contract they had to pay temporary workers the starting wage. So at least he made good money while he was there. It is just so unfair, he really worked so hard and was so devastated. Real pride buster. You know what it is like to see someone you love get hurt, it is heartbreaking. But in the long run it is really their loss anyway. I can't believe it is legal. In the companies I have worked for in the past, it was a conflict of interest to hire family members.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Many companies believe it is a conflict of interest to hire family members. Other companies believe it is discrimination not to hire family members. Since the law does not say one way or the other, a company gets to make up their own mind which they believe.

Personally, I have no trouble with hiring family members as long as they work in different departments and are not in the same reporting chain.
 

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