[Adopted 4-25-2000 by Ord. No. 1132]
This article shall be called the "Antinepotism Policy of the Borough of Emerson."
A. 
The prohibitions set forth in this article shall apply solely to employee positions for the Borough of Emerson.
B. 
This article shall not apply to appointments to the various boards, commissions, committees and authorities of the Borough, nor to service in any volunteer organization, including Ambulance Corps, Fire Department and Auxiliary Police.
C. 
Subject to the exception in Subsection D below, this article and the prohibition against certain hiring contained herein shall be applied prospectively only from the effective date of its enactment and shall not in any way be construed to prohibit or make unlawful any current employment relationship or situation or the hiring or promotion of any person currently employed by the Borough of Emerson as of the effective date of this article which may technically be violative of the terms hereof but for its prospective application. For purposes of interpreting this exception, persons appointed to positions of employment with the Borough for a set term shall be considered current employees, notwithstanding the fact that the then term may have ended. Such person holding positions of employment with the Borough under a set term may be hired to any position in the Borough, rehired, reappointed or promoted, as may be the case, without violating this article.
D. 
The prohibitions and restrictions contained in § 73-6A and B shall not apply in the case of seasonal part-time employment including, but not limited to, referees, umpires and other per diem employees of recreation and sports programs.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ELECTED OFFICIAL
Persons holding the position of Council member or Mayor.
EMPLOYEE
For purposes of this article, shall mean those persons as set forth in the Borough Salary Ordinance,[1] except that, for purposes of this article, "employee" shall not include all paid employees of the Fire Department, including, but not limited to, Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief, Captain(s), Lieutenant(s), mechanical engineer(s) and driver(s).
RELATIVE
Includes spouses, parents/children, siblings, in-laws and step-relatives to the extent of parents or children, brothers- and sisters-in-law.
[Amended 11-1-2022 by Ord. No. 1658-22]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 85, Salaries and Compensation.
The following restrictions shall apply in the hiring and promotion of employees to employment positions for the Borough of Emerson:
A. 
No person who is a relative of any elected official of the Borough of Emerson shall be considered for employment as an employee of the Borough. This shall not restrict nor prohibit the continued employment of individuals to a position or positions with the Borough where a relative of an employee is elected as a Borough Council person or Mayor after the date of the employee's start of employment with the Borough.
B. 
Promotion of existing employees. Notwithstanding the prospective application as to the remainder of this article as applied above, no elected official (Borough Mayor or Council member) may participate in the promotion process or hiring process in that department of any existing employee who is a relative of such elected official. Such elected official shall abstain from participation in such personnel action as it applies to such relative.
This policy is not for the purposes of depriving any citizen of an equal chance for employment with the Borough but is solely intended to eliminate the potential for preferential treatment of the relatives of elected officials.
Except as may be otherwise expressly provided for herein, this article shall not affect the employment of any present Borough employees and/or any existing contractual obligations with employees by the Borough of Emerson.