Recently, the #MeToo movement has sparked a vital dialogue about workplace sexual harassment. If you are an employer or HR professional, you should be paying attention and thinking about what steps you should take to protect your employees and your workplace.
Romance in the Office
In addition to the regular evaluation of your antiharassment policies and reporting structures and providing training to all employees on how to report any harassment they experience or witness, what should you be doing about existing romantic relationships between employees or any relationships that have yet to blossom? Do they have to be extinguished in light of the dialogue sparked by #MeToo, or is there still a place in the modern workplace for cubicle cupids?
The reality is that even after #MeToo, coworkers are going to hook up. The annual Vault.com office romance survey reports that in 2017, 57% of those surveyed have participated in some kind of office romance. Of those dalliances, 21% were random hookups, 16% led to long-term relationships, and 14% led to ongoing but casual relationships.
According to the survey, the most common ways for office romances to begin include working in the same department (36%), sitting in nearby offices or cubicles (28%), meeting at happy hours or office parties (26%), and collaborating on a project (21%).
So Now What?
So what are you as an employer supposed to do? Look at your existing policies and make sure they make sense not only for your workplace and but also for the ever-changing times.
Do you have a policy that addresses consensual romantic relationships between your employees? If so, do your employees follow it? Is it enforced? If you don’t have such a policy, do you need one?
One option would be to enact a simple office dating policy, under which you require employees involved in romantic relationships to notify management of the existence or dissolution of the relationship. Having such a simple policy allows you to:
- Preserve documentation concerning this consensual relationship;
- Engage in a conversation with the employees about what conduct is appropriate in the workplace;
- Remind them of your sexual harassment policy; and
- Make adjustments to work schedules or the management structure, if necessary.
If you don’t believe a simple “notification” policy has enough bite, you could also consider requiring employees to sign a “Consensual Relationship Agreement” when romance blooms. Under such a written agreement, they acknowledge they’ve entered into a mutually consensual relationship that either of them is free to end at any time, and they agree not to allow it to negatively affect their job performance. This type of agreement can be a good idea because it documents the existence of a consensual relationship in the event that it becomes an issue later on down the road.
Aftermath
Having a plan for dealing with failed relationships between coworkers is also very important. If your employees break up, you will want to:
- Counsel them;
- Document their personnel files with a note that the relationship has ended; and
- If necessary, consider accommodating a request by one of the employees to be moved to another position or department, if that employee expresses legitimate concerns about working with the other.
Remember, too, that others in the workplace are often affected when coworkers couple up. Be sure you are checking in with others so that you can be in front of claims of favoritism or other discord that might be troublesome and distracting to the work of your organization.
Bottom Line
Please feel free to reach out to one of our employment lawyers to discuss the specific items that must be included in the above-mentioned policies, especially if the #MeToo movement has already made its way to your facility. We’re here to help.
Whatever path you take, focus on creating a culture where employees are open with management about their workplace relationships and feel empowered to report sexual harassment when they experience it or see it.
You may contact Allison B. Williams at 304-933-8144 or allison.williams@steptoe-johnson.com.