Can Husbands and Wives Work Together in the Same Company? Seeking Clarity on HR Policies

In any company, do we have an HR policy that states husbands and wives should not work in the same company? Please clear my doubt.

As a general guideline, it is preferable that relatives do not work in the same organization as this could give rise to nepotism. More importantly, if the husband and wife work in the same organization, there could be instances wherein one could face the wrath of superiors at some point, and the other could be praised by the superior. This could lead to embarrassment and ego clashes between them.

Likewise, if both are working in the same organization, they may prefer to take leave on the same date for specific reasons. If one does not get leave while the other is granted leave, the purpose of one availing leave gets defeated.

There could be several underlying issues during the course of their service. Hence, it is recommended that relatives are not engaged in the same company.

Regards

I know of cases where organizations employ married couples in different roles and departments. For example, a hospital recently employed two consultants in different departments. They moved from one town to another 200 miles away. Similarly, when a person in a senior position was sought by a university, one of the conditions that the candidate placed to agree to join was finding a suitable job for his/her spouse. The university managed to find one. In another case, when an HR Manager married an HR Officer, their company insisted that one of them had to move to another branch to avoid a direct boss-subordinate relationship.

There is also a scholarly article on this topic at http://www.soc.umn.edu/~moen/PDFs/Tw...20Employer.pdf. This question was amply discussed way back in 2008 at citehr at https://www.citehr.com/121504-spouse...ny-policy.html. Some more views at why would an employer ban couples from working in the same department?.

All found by searching the web at https://www.google.co.uk/#q=can+spou...e+organization.

Hence, my sincere suggestion is that we should SEARCH first and then seek help, as Aussiejohn keeps exhorting us.

It is not appropriate for an organization to have a policy denying employment to a husband or wife because the other spouse is employed there, if he or she earns it in his/her own right, as it is likely to oppose public policy. However, the couple may not be posted in the same department, section, or branch in the interests of security and confidentiality of the organization. As Mr. Simhan pointed out, there are advantages too in hiring couples.

Regards,
B. Saikumar