by Jasmin Rojas
Roses are red
Violets are blue,
Cupid’s arrow at work
May snag a lawsuit for you.
It’s February, the month of romance. Love (and perhaps a plethora of pheromones) permeates the air. No doubt that greeting cards and jewelry commercials contribute to a love sick contagion during this month. Guess what? Your workplace is certainly not immune from catching this love bug. In fact, work is indeed a logical place for romantic relationships to develop. People who work together tend to have similar background, talents, goals etc. As evidence, a 2011 survey conducted by Vault.com found that the majority (59% percent) of respondents had been involved in a relationship with a coworker.
Generally speaking, there’s nothing illegal about allowing your employees to engage in workplace dating. If not managed properly, however, office romance can evolve into a complicated headache. With little exception, these relationships are fun until someone gets hurt. Whether it’s a scorned lover or a coworker complaining of favoritism, workplace relationships can lead to big trouble. Read on to find what you can do to protect your company and avoid any unnecessary workplace drama stemming from office romances.
“Stop! In the name of love.” First, check your office policies.
At a bare minimum, you should have thorough antidiscrimination and harassment policies that comply with state and federal laws. Make sure you review your policies with your employees, as well as consistently enforce them. Even if there is no legal training requirement in your state, employers should consider providing sexual harassment training (or at least a review of the sexual harassment policy) to new employees as soon as possible, but no later than after one year of employment. You should not worry that you are providing your workforce with ammunition to later pursue a sexual harassment claim against your company.
Employers are also encouraged to train their managers and supervisors as soon as possible after they start their managerial or supervisory duties, and even repeated as needed. The training should remind supervisors of the potential problems that arise from personal relationships with subordinates, including potential sexual harassment claims, as well as personal liability. Even if no improper conduct occurs, the relationship may cause gossip, hard feelings, dissatisfaction, and distraction among other employees in the workplace. It may also affect employee morale, as the relationship may appear to other employees as an inappropriate use of a subordinate’s position.
Take heed! Such policies, however, do not completely address the issues that arise from office romances. The following are some policies you might consider implementing that specifically address the issue.
“Love in an elevator.” What about no-dating policies? An employer is certainly able to prohibit dating among employees. However, a blanket no-dating policy can be hard to enforce and cause more problems than necessary. (Think Romeo and Juliet). More realistically, and perhaps most importantly, you may want to establish a policy prohibiting relationships between supervisors and subordinates. As another alternative, if you really don’t want to prohibit dating at all, your policy can require notification to a specified manager when a romantic relationship arises between a supervisor and his or her subordinate.
If you do find out about a supervisor-subordinate relationship, whether inadvertently or through self-disclosure, it is critical that you review your sexual harassment policy with both parties. Further, you should let both employees know that one of them must be reassigned or terminated because they should not work together. Preferably, in order to avoid any discrimination or retaliation claim, the company should first explore the feasibility of relocating or terminating the manager or supervisor.
“I just called to say I love you.” Dating notification policies. Another possible approach is to have all employees who are involved in a consensual romantic relationship report to human resources, not just supervisors and subordinates. At the time of such disclosure, these employees should be reminded of the sexual harassment policy, as well as your expectations of their workplace conduct. For example, this is the time to discuss issues such as public displays of affection and maintaining professionalism. You should ask them to notify you when the relationship has ended, and encourage them to report any harassing conduct that may occur after the breakup. In the event that the couple has split, make sure that you document a review of the sexual harassment policy with both employees. If either employee expresses any concern working with the other, your company should strongly consider accommodating the employee by moving him or her.
“Baby, baby, sign my contract on love.” Love contracts. Some employers chose to have employees who are involved in an office romance sign a consensual relationship agreement, also known as a “love contract.” These written agreements acknowledge that the relationship is consensual, that the employees can terminate the relationship at any time, and that the employees agree that it will not affect their performance. The agreements also remind the employees of the company policies against harassment and retaliation, and detail the expectations about their conduct. The contracts should make sure that employees understand that they cannot be involved in a supervisor-subordinate relationship or engage in any behaviors that constitute a conflict of interest or favoritism.
“Love stinks.” Whatever you decide, it is important to keep in mind that it is in the company’s best interest to respect your employees’ privacy. Accordingly, company representatives should keep information that they learn regarding employee romances on a need to know basis. Further, employers should attempt to limit their involvement with the relationship to the extent possible. Increased involvement only invites unnecessary drama.
Bottom line
February is a great time to review your sexual harassment policy with your employees, as well as provide requisite training. In short, make sure you avoid getting caught in Cupid’s cross hairs.
Want to learn more?
Check out the BLR “Workplace romance hazards for employers infographic: Broken hearts and legal headaches,” which illustrates the potential hazards of co-worker romances —and provides answers to how HR can protect its organization from hostile work environment claims, as well as sexual harassment and retaliation that could result when these relationships go from sweet to sour.
Jasmin M. Rojas, JD, is a Legal Editor for BLR’s human resources and employment law publications. Ms. Rojas has several years of experience as an attorney and writer in the field of human resources and has published numerous articles on a variety of human resources and employment topics, including compensation, harassment, discrimination, work/life issues, termination, and military leave.