The inspector general’s office for the Department of Justice has issued a warning that might be applicable elsewhere, cautioning ATF personnel against recruiting relatives and friends for employment at the agency.
It is usual for ATF personnel to recruit from among friends and family for unique agent jobs, according to a management alert, which is often the result of information cropped up in an ongoing investigation that an IG considers worthy of quick action.
These roles are filled using the Schedule B power granted to exempted services, allowing more precise recruiting to meet an organization’s mission requirements.
However, agencies that adopt this authority still need to ensure they’re employing people based on merit and that their staff isn’t engaging in awkward practices like giving someone a leg-up or lobbying for a family member to get hired.
As stated in the study, recruiting among friends and family is inappropriate. A referred candidate must still overcome numerous obstacles to be hired at ATF, including submitting a formal application and completing a Physical Task Test, panel interview, written test, polygraph testing, and background check.
Despite this, the document acknowledged that recruitment of friends and relatives might, in some situations, give rise to concerns under the federal merit-based employment legislation or the Standards of Ethical Conduct, even if the eventual hiring decision is devoid of nepotism.
However, any ATF official’s statement endorsing or recommending the candidacy of a family member they are recruiting could constitute improper advocacy of the relative’s appointment. It is true even if the official is not the ultimate decision maker or participates in the relative’s hiring.
Though ATF does not have a written policy governing the recruitment of friends and family, it does not provide employees engaged in recruiting activities with any specific process to follow when recruiting a friend or family member, and does not provide training or guidance to employees regarding potential ethical, appearance, or merit-based hiring issues that can arise during the recruitment stage.
The Inspector General expressed concern that without such a policy, process, or guidance, ATF employees may not understand how the federal merit principles and ethical standards apply at the recruitment stage and may unwittingly run afoul of those principles and standards in performing their Schedule B recruitment duties.
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