I’ve actually worked in all of those positions in a similar sized hotel (except HR). And part of our annual audit is a audit of procedures; relatives/romatic partners working at different points along desk/audit/accounting (ie the employees along the path charges and credits follow from room account to general ledger) would be an issue. In my case the GM had to sign off on me working both night audit (covering vacations) and A/R.
For one thing, they would be going on vacation at the same time, and therefore unable to cover for each other.
(what I just said is probably illegal, isn’t it?)
Tiny hijack here – just FYI, it IS possible to have a leg infection such that you are required to stay home (taking antibiotics and lying down with leg elevated) but still be able to dash in to town for fifteen minutes on an errand.
Doesn’t mean your ex-coworker WASN’T lying, and especially doesn’t mean that she wasn’t an IDIOT for going in to pick up her check under the circumstances, especially as a new hire who wouldn’t exactly be winning any awards for calling in sick in the first place, but she may have been telling the truth.
RE: your OP. I’m not sure whether you are being discriminated against or not based upon the scenario, but I suspect this is a no-win situation for you and your BF (as in “boyfriend,” not “best friend,” though hopefully he’s both). From what I’ve been able to find, employment discrimination based on sexual orientation (and, in some cases, transgender status) is illegal in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, NY, NJ, Maryland, District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii, so from a “state” point of view, you are looking pretty good. However, proving your case will be difficult at best, and I’m sure you know that doing anything that may suggest that you or your boyfriend are considering legal action won’t endear you in the hearts of management. Even if you do get satisfaction, I think you may safely assume that it will only be after many months, which won’t do you any good right now when you need it. It isn’t right, but it is reality.
If your guy wants to pursue this, the two of you should probably get a quick consultation with an employment attorney and see what s/he thinks about your prospects. Perhaps you could contact the Human Rights Campaign and see if they have any suggestions.
Good luck.
No, not at all. “Romantically involved” is not a protected class.
Lots of businesses either have a formal policy or an informal practice to not hire close relations and/or romantically linked people to work in the same office or on the same project or whatever. There are defensible reasons for this, ranging from wishing to avoid the appearance of favoritism or nepotism, to concern about staff morale should the relationship go south, to issues as to who will be available to cover shifts.
That’s why if the OP’er’s fiance is only the first or second person who they have declined to hire on the basis of a romantic attachment, he will find it extremely difficult to prove discrimination – there are legitimate reasons not to hire another employee’s love-interest.
It’s only if the OP’er’s fiance can show a pattern or practice of allowing such hires, that he may be able to show that this reason was in his case pretextual (an excuse) and not legitimate, which in turn may support a claim of discriminatory hiring practices.
According to this site, all the New England states have laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Doesn’t the Salvation Army run those weird cheapo hotels in where men and women are put on seperate floors?
A woman who worked for me suggested we hire her live-in boyfriend to help us out with some manual labor (moving computer equipment, etc.). I wasn’t crazy about this idea, but was overruled from above. It didn’t work out very well, and we ultimately lost both of them. As she was very competent, this was a major loss to us.
Since that time, I have had a “no-relatives” policy, and have consistently recommended the same to other managers within our organization.