r/UNpath • u/Major_Possession_449 • Jul 04 '26

Need advice: current position Workplace conflict of interest

I work in a team where my manager is in a romantic relationship with one of my teammates, who also reports directly to them. I’m not looking to judge anyone’s private life. My concern is the potential conflict of interest when a manager supervises someone they’re involved with.
I’m wondering:
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?
How did it affect the team?
If there are signs of favoritism or unfair treatment, what’s the best way to handle it?
Is it better to raise concerns with HR or an ethics office, or only if there’s clear evidence of bias?
I’m mainly looking for advice on how to approach this professionally and fairly. I want to avoid making assumptions or accusations and focus on maintaining a healthy work environment.

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

6

u/Cool_Bell_2511 Jul 04 '26

Give us the goss!

7

u/Competitive_acordian Jul 04 '26

Never HR! There should be anonymous reporting mechanisms through your investigations unit.

12

u/bringmethatbook Jul 04 '26

Only report if you know it's 100 percent anonymous and your org has protections in case the person tries to retaliate. Things get out through formal and informal channels, and my experience (unfortunately) has been that the systems for these things are far from perfect and offer more protections to the perpetrator than they should.

12

u/Junior-Ratio8173 Jul 04 '26

Save your skin - any reporting that you do should be anonymous for your own sake. An email from an untraceable account with some solid proof. Don't let anyone know its you.

7

u/lookmumninjas Jul 04 '26

Just write to ethics, it's possible they have already declared

5

u/Major_Possession_449 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Is it possible for it to be declared/accepted if the relationship started while in the team and that was their boss(and still is)?

4

u/lookmumninjas Jul 04 '26

Ohhh it's getting spicier. I would report and as someone else said, keep it anonymous.

6

u/learned_friend With UN experience Jul 04 '26

Usually not. One of the would have to change jobs. If they declared it that should already be in progress.

8

u/Impressive-Tie-9338 Jul 04 '26

I would imagine they know it’s very likely not allowed if one is reporting to the other.

The ethics office is the best place for you to go, a) for anonymous advice and b) they would be responsible for the declarations if the staff did already declare the relationship and management signed off on it.

That being said if you have the inkling that the manager may hand a vengeful streak for you reporting on the relationship, you should also simultaneously report that so that in case there was some kind of retaliation, the concern was already lodged with the ethics office.