When a relationship ends badly, it could lead to a claim of sexual harassment and retaliation from one of the previously consenting parties. It could also lead to a hostile work environment claim from another worker who believes there is favoritism resulting from the relationship.
Valentine’s Day … and every day, office romances are blossoming. It’s easy to see how these romances can happen when you consider the average employee spends over 1/2 of their waking workday at work. Even President Barack and wife Michelle Obama met at work.
According to a poll by CareerBuilder, approximately 40 percent of workers surveyed admitted to dating a coworker at some point in their career, and 30 percent said they went on to marry a former coworker. It is so nice to think that all relationships will have a happy ending. But what happens when the coworker relationship goes awry? Can your company withstand the wrath of a scorned lover?
When a relationship ends badly, it could lead to a claim of sexual harassment and retaliation from one of the previously consenting parties. It could also lead to a hostile work environment claim from another worker who believes there is favoritism resulting from the relationship.
What can you do to avoid this potential liability? Some companies require dating coworkers to sign a Consensual Relationship Agreement, also known as a “Love Contract”. This agreement spells out the workers’ understanding that they are entering into the relationship voluntarily, that they agree to behave according to company policy, that they understand the company’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, and some other stipulations to help protect the company.
While these “Love Contracts” may help to reinforce the dating couple’s understanding of company policy regarding their social relationship, they may be unenforceable in the eyes of the courts if the employee claims he or she was in an emotionally vulnerable state and signed the document under duress. And what happens when the relationship is not made known throughout the office? At what point in the relationship should the love contract be presented? Many coworkers enter into social relationships long before they become public knowledge. Sometimes we do not find out about a relationship until the breakup and there was never a consensual relationship agreement.
How can you further avoid this potential liability? Make sure you have a properly written handbook that includes a relationship and a harassment prevention policy. It is not enough that you just have the handbook. You will also want to make sure each employee receives a copy, signs an acknowledgement of receipt, and signs that they agree to the company’s policies and procedures found within the handbook. Providing your employees with proper training relating to sexual harassment prevention is another way to minimize risk.
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For information on the CareerBuilder survey,
For more information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/
About the Author:
Darlene Fenn is a Southern California HR consultant with over 20 years of experience in HR and the prevention methods a business needs to minimize risk and maximize their human ROI. You can find out more information on Darlene at www.cohrconsulting.com.
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