Does your company have a policy around employing or hiring relatives? Do you think these kinds of policies are necessary?

We hire many relatives, in some cases five or six deep in a family. Has its pro and con. You can end up with silos and favoritism issues. I would think about a limit of 2-3 in a 100 person company and minimize overlap in the responsibilities.

Hiring relatives are fine. The only policies I recommend - related individuals should not be in the same department, including spouses; and one relative should not have a supervisory role over the other. It never works. Disagreements always turn personal.

We do not hire relatives and I think it has worked great for us. My Human Resources Coordinator asked us about a year ago if we would consider hiring her boyfriend as a District Manager and I really tend to shy away from it. I always look at it from the perspective; if he boyfriend doesn't work out and we fire him - how will that impact her and her performance?

Maybe it depends on the position too; it has just always made me very hesitant.

I have worked for a number of companies and hiring relatives was always in the mix. This was especially true in family-owned and/or rapid growth situations.

We used the same general rules as Regis mentioned above - not in the same department and cannot supervise a relative. The biggest concerns were making sure that everyone is treated fairly; and that relatives do not take work issues home - this was especially true in family-owned businesses.