Standard 1.10: Multiple relationships
RBTs avoid mixing their professional role with another relationship, such as friend, relative or business partner, with clients, coworkers or supervisors. If a multiple relationship develops, they tell their supervisor right away, work to resolve it and document it; if it involves the supervisor, they report it to the supervisor's manager or another appropriate body.
What it means in practice
A multiple relationship exists when you hold two or more roles with the same person, for example RBT and babysitter, RBT and friend, or RBT and business partner. The code's glossary extends this to anyone closely associated with or related to the client. The risk is a conflict of interest: the second relationship can cloud your judgment, make it hard to give honest data or feedback, and ultimately harm the client.
Common examples include working for a client's family outside your job, providing services to the child of a friend or relative, selling products to a client's family, becoming close friends with a caregiver, accepting social media friend requests from families, and having a supervisor who is a relative or business partner.
When you find that a multiple relationship has developed, the code sets three steps: inform your supervisor immediately, work to resolve it, and document what you did. If the relationship is with your supervisor, report it to your supervisor's manager or another appropriate entity, such as human resources or the BACB, and document that communication. The RBT Handbook lists engaging in a multiple relationship with a client or supervisor among the ethics violations that must be self-reported to the BACB.
Some overlaps can't be avoided, especially in small communities: the client's family attends your place of worship, or the client's parent is your child's teacher. Tell your supervisor as soon as you know, keep contacts outside work brief and friendly, never discuss the client outside work, and follow any plan your supervisor makes, which may include reassignment.
Scenarios
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| A client's parent asks you to babysit their children on Saturday nights for extra money. | Politely decline and explain that you can only work with the family in your professional role. Tell your supervisor about the offer and document it. |
| You are given a new client and realize at the first session that the client is your cousin's child. | Tell your supervisor immediately, follow their direction about the case (usually reassignment), and document the conversation. |
| Your supervisor keeps inviting you to join their side business selling supplements, and you have bought products from them. | This is a business relationship with your supervisor. Report it to your supervisor's manager or human resources, work to end the business arrangement, and document the communication. |
| In a small town, a client's family belongs to the same community center where you volunteer every week. | Tell your supervisor as soon as you realize it and agree on a plan. Keep contact there brief and polite, never talk about the client's services there, and document the plan. |
Practice questions
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Question 1An RBT and their supervisor have become close friends who now spend most weekends together. Where should the RBT report this?
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A: To the supervisor's manager or other appropriate entity. When a multiple relationship involves the supervisor, the code says to report it to the supervisor's manager or another appropriate entity, such as human resources or the BACB, and document it (Standard 1.10).
- B: A close personal friendship with a supervisor is a multiple relationship, wherever it takes place.
- C: Caregivers are not the right people to resolve a relationship between staff.
- D: The code directs this report above the supervisor because they are involved.
Task E.2 · RBT Ethics Code 1.10
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Question 2In the RBT Ethics Code, a multiple relationship occurs when an RBT:
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D: mixes two or more roles with the same person. A multiple relationship is a mixing of two or more of an RBT's roles, such as professional and personal, with a client, stakeholder, supervisor, coworker, or someone closely associated with or related to the client.
- A: Serving several clients is still a single professional role with each of them.
- B: Having more than one supervisor is allowed and does not mix roles.
- C: Working across settings such as home and clinic does not add a second role.
Task F.7 · RBT Ethics Code 1.10 · 40-hour curriculum section G
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Question 3Why does the RBT Ethics Code direct RBTs to avoid multiple relationships?
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D: They can cause conflicts of interest and harm to clients. Mixing roles can create conflicts of interest, cloud the RBT's objectivity and put the client at risk of harm. That is why the code tells RBTs to avoid them and to act quickly when one develops.
- A: Multiple relationships are not on the list of events that must be self-reported; the code asks RBTs to tell their supervisor.
- B: The code does not tie recertification to multiple relationships; the concern is harm to the client.
- C: Personal, family and social relationships can create conflicts even when no money is involved.
Task F.7 · RBT Ethics Code 1.10 · 40-hour curriculum section G
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Question 4An RBT learns that their cousin's child has been referred to the agency and may be assigned to them. What should the RBT do?
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B: Tell the supervisor about the relationship before services start. Providing services to a relative's child mixes family and professional roles. Raising it with the supervisor before services begin lets the agency assign someone else or manage the risk, and the RBT documents that communication.
- A: Familiarity does not outweigh the risk that the family tie affects objectivity and the client's care.
- C: Hiding the relationship prevents the supervisor from managing the risk.
- D: Steering the family's choice is not the RBT's role; the supervisor needs to know so the agency can decide.
Task F.7 · RBT Ethics Code 1.10 · 40-hour curriculum section G
Answer every question to see your score.
Where it sits in the code
Standard 1.10 is in section 1, General Responsibilities, of the RBT Ethics Code (2.0). On the exam it relates to task F.7 Multiple relationships. Read the official text for the exact wording.
Related standards: 1.11 Gifts, 1.12 Romantic and sexual relationships, 1.04 Never the employer of your supervisor, 2.10 Discussing and sharing client information.