Should We Hire Couples? Exploring the Pros and Cons of Spouses Working Together

Dear Seniors,

In my previous company, there was a rule that an employee cannot work with his/her spouse in one company, even at different locations. Now, I have joined another company and we are working on the HR policy of our company. I want to know whether we should hire a husband and wife. What are the positive and negative points in hiring them?

Sana

Hi Sana,

Even the same problem is going on in my organization as well. In my company, there are two employees who are getting involved in a personal relationship. Sometimes, I also wonder what I should do if these people engage in personal matters in the office. Seniors, please guide on this matter.

What should be done? What are the consequences of hiring a husband and wife in the same organization?

Shweta

Hi every one,

This is interesting issue there is no harm if employees or the relatives are employed in one company because every company needs good talented employees for prosperity and growth of an organization. Become relative of employee, is not crime or offence and no one shall be discreminate on this basis just because his or her relative is employed or under consideration for employment and company suspect or hold some cynical view.
You may add following clause:

Employment of Relatives

The Company permits the employment of relatives provided one relative does not directly supervise the other in the interests of good discipline and to avoid conflict of interest. Examples:
•Husband/ Wife
•Parent/ Child
•Uncle/ Nephew or Niece
•Brother/ Brother
•Brother/ Sister
•Father-in-law/ Son or Daughter-in-law


It's bad HR practice to discriminate employees and restrict employees if they are relatives or become relative after marriage in same office. Nothin harms to the business interest is major issue. The above clause help to restrain unwarranted activities in office premises.

Regards

sawant

I do agree with Sawant here. Going around with another employee is their personal matter. As an employer, we have no right to intervene in their personal affairs unless they cross certain boundaries. If we are constantly worried about employees interacting with each other, then it would be impossible to have both genders working together in the same organization.

We have a policy where we hire spouses. However, a spouse can be hired only if the position is under a different manager.

We avoid hiring spouses of employees for departments like HR, Finance, Marketing wherein there's a lot of confidentiality involved.

~Niki

Since most of our companies operate in a rule area where relationships are formed at the job site, such practices are acceptable as long as the spouses are not in the same department and are not directly related or interconnected. For example, a husband and wife could work in different departments like Purchasing and Accounting.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification.

Hi,

According to me, spouses working in the same company should not be allowed, as it creates more problems than it should reduce. Working in the same organization at different levels and receiving different treatment may create ego problems. A lot of discussion has happened on a similar topic earlier in the forum, where the husband was at a director level and his wife was at a junior level. The celebrations of their birthdays were different as per company policy, which made the husband feel bad that his wife's birthday couldn't be celebrated as his was. He even threatened to resign from the company over this issue.

To avoid such ego issues, it's better not to employ spouses in the same organization. It is very difficult to keep personal relationships and work separate in the workplace. Most companies do not employ spouses, and if people get married while working in the company, one of them has to leave.

Cheers,
Harshad

Spouses working in the same organization may have its own merits and demerits:

Merits:
1. For the organization, the problem of employee retention will be less.
2. Understanding will be higher, and chances of conflict do not require arbitration.
3. Healthy work culture can be developed if it is taken in a positive manner.
4. Eve teasing will reduce.
5. Sexual harassment will be less or may be zero.
6. Employee loyalty can be generated.
7. Employee involvement in the job/organization will be higher.
8. Clarity of thoughts and discussions over an issue will be higher, and ideas can be generated in more suitable ways.
9. Job satisfaction will increase.

Demerits:
1. Ego problems may arise.
2. Pilferage in personal and professional life will increase.
3. Flexibility in terms of leave shall be needed.
4. Spouses will sustain each other for more than 8 hours if there is an opinion disparity.

Above all, hiring a spouse is a good practice, but due care shall be taken, e.g., no hiring in the same department. Bosses have to be very careful while dealing with such employees, etc.

Hi Sana,

According to me, companies should not discriminate against people in terms of relationships. If you look at this, it could be a retaining strategy - people stick around for a longer time. However, the point to be noted here is that they should not be in the same department, reporting to the same RM, or reporting to his/her relative. This situation can create a bad impression in the minds of employees overall and can hinder the reputation. There is always a chance of favoritism and leakage of information in these kinds of cases.

I agree with Sawant and Prathima, Upen's projection of the pros and cons in employing couples are the current issues faced in the industry. We have had this policy for four years in our organization and have encouraged couples to join us into different teams or businesses to avoid conflicts in all respects.

Regards,
Rupesh Reddy

Dear All,

I read with great interest all comments, but most of the replies are marred by myopia of charity by engaging the spouse of an employee or relatives of an employee. If an organization is recruiting any relative of an employee, it does not mean they are doing charity or a favor for employees or relatives.

We must respect the individuals and employees as the basics of business ethics. In the Indian context, where the population of eligible candidates is so huge, more than the demand, it encourages the employer or his representative to have a tendency of promoting nepotism, etc. This eventually results in the general opinion that employment means a favor to an employee. We must understand that if we engage an employee, that is business, and we are not engaging an individual human being but recruiting their skills and competencies. There should not be favoritism towards the individual but towards their skills or competencies; hence, we have to respect them. If we don't, the employee will find his way out of the organization soon, no matter how big or good the organization might be. All big names and MNCs have a high attrition rate as a result of such a culture.

Look at the positive side of an employee's performance and not just their relationship with another employee because this cannot be treated as a norm for disqualification.

Regards,

Sawant

Dear All,

I read with great interest all comments, but most of the replies are marred by myopia of charity by engaging the spouse of an employee or relatives of an employee. If an organization is recruiting any relative of an employee, it does not mean they are doing charity or a favor for employees or relatives.

We must respect the individuals and employees as the basics of business ethics. In the Indian context, where the population of eligible candidates is so huge, more than the demand, it encourages the employer or their representative to a tendency of promoting nepotism, etc. This eventually results in the general opinion that employment means a favor to an employee. We must understand that if we engage an employee, that is business, and we are not engaging an individual human being but recruiting their skills and competencies. There should be no favoritism to the individual but to their skills or competencies; hence, we have to respect them, and if we don't, the employee will find their way out of the organization soon, no matter how big or good the organization might be. All big names and MNCs have high attrition rates as a result of such a culture.

Look at the positive side of an employee's performance and not their relationship with another employee because this cannot be treated as norms for disqualification.

Regards,

Sawant

Hi Sana,

I think husbands and wives should not be hired in the same organization. This is mainly due to the following reasons:

1) Performance, increment, and transfer of one person will affect the performance and stability of the other person.

2) If one of them is scolded by the management, the other person will be affected, leading to potential politics within the organization.

3) If both individuals work in different departments, the confidential information of their respective departments may spread.

4) If one person leaves the company due to some unpleasant reason, the other person may follow suit.

I believe these reasons are sufficient to support the decision of not hiring husbands and wives in the same company.

Regards,
Akhouri Nishant