Workplace Policies Nepotism and Consensual Relationships Nepotism Nepotism in employment is a violation of state law, University of Houston System Board of Regents policy, and University of Houston System policy. The University strictly prohibits the employment of relatives within a supervisory chain. Relatives of University employees shall not be employed by the University in positions, permanent or temporary, where an employee has the official authority to hire, recommend or approve the hiring, salary, or promotions of the relative. Relatives shall not be employed in a supervisory-subordinate relationship even if it results from marriage after the employment relationship was formed. A relative is defined as anyone related to the employee within the second degree of kinship or the third degree of lineage and includes the employee’s spouse, the employee or the spouse’s natural and adopted children, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, brothers, sisters, half brothers and sisters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, first cousins, second cousins; and persons married to these. Please see UHD policy PS 02.A.03, Nepotism Policy, for additional information. Consensual Relationships UHD prohibits any inappropriate consensual relationship, which is consensual dating, intimate, romantic, and/or sexual relationships between an employee and an individual that the employee has responsibility as part of their job duties to teach, instruct, manage, supervise, advise, counsel, oversee, grade, coach, train, treat, or evaluate in any way. Complaints regarding prohibited conduct shall be reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity Services to determine whether and to what extent an investigation will be conducted. Violations of this policy will vary as appropriate to the facts and circumstances of each case. Please see UHS policy SAM 01.D.10, Consensual Relationship Policy, for additional information.
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Confidentiality, FERPA, HIPAA, and the Texas Public Information Act Two of the most important federal laws that employee members should know about concerning the privacy of students and the confidentiality of student records are the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (commonly called FERPA, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (or HIPAA, Public Law 104-191,104th Congress, especially Sec. 264). One of the most important state laws concerning confidentiality and public records is the Texas Public Information Act (the PIA, Texas Government Code §552) Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) FERPA protects student educational records from disclosure to third-parties not affiliated with an educational institution in which a student is or has been enrolled. For example, FERPA prohibits Section IV 31 universities and its employees from divulging information about a student’s course schedule, academic or financial standing, grade history, course attendance, or any disciplinary actions taken against the student. Universities and its employees thus cannot legally divulge information to parents, employers, prospective employers, or law enforcement agencies without prior written consent from the student. There are some exceptions to FERPA guidelines. For example, if a student is classified as a dependent under Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code, universities may divulge educational records to parents. University employees can also disclose, without a student’s consent, certain “directory” information like names, addresses, dates of attendance, and degree awards. At the same time, universities must allow students and parents (in the case of “dependent students”) reasonable time to elect to have even “directory” information protected. Otherwise, staff members must have prior written consent from the student before releasing the student’s academic records. University employees may access and divulge or access information without a student’s written
