Is it legal for a manager to secretly hire a friend instead of posting position?

Sure.

Maybe not fair, but it should be legal.

What is the companies policy on new position within the company? The HR department should be able to clarify the policy to you.

It is unethical, and it is favoritism and I seriously doubt his actions would be condoned by those that manage him.

The manager could have posted the position to have smokescreen interviews before hiring his/her friend. That’s the U.S. government method.
Would that make you feel any better?

It totally depends on the company’s hiring policies.

It depends where you work. In the organisation I work in, no. It would not fly and people could complain to HR and action would be taken. We have a very strict HR policy. It really does depend on where you work.

Generally it is legal, but it may be against company policy.

Odd as it may seem, this is quite legal. Furthermore, there are many loopholes even when policies have been made to prevent such things. I was once asked to interview for a job that had already been promised to someone just so that my employer could meet a formal requirement that three people interview for the job.

It absolutely depends on the hiring policy of the company. I worked in small private firms that hired without much discussion and I worked for public services that had strict guidelines on how they had to advertise positions. Completely up to the company hiring.

I think it is wrong and probably not in accordance with the HR policies of the company, but illegal? No. People hire their friends all the time. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

He is the boss. He gets to make that choice.

If it were Civil Service, it would not be ok. There are tests and lists. Not saying it doesn’t happen in Civil Service, but not as often as in the “real world.”

Look in your employee manual and see what it says about posting jobs internally. It is not illegal. It may violate corporate policy. You could complain to the HR department.

@jca all the tests and list are just your ticket to get into the game. Do you think people are really picked off those lists IN ORDER?

@anartist: in the county i work for they are because we can view the list (part of civil service rules) and so we keep track of who is interviewed and hired in what order. sometimes people pass up the job, it’s all transparent, in my county.

@jca where is your county?