Full-Service HR

Handling Romantic Relationships in the Workplace

Chelsea Bikner
Relationships in the Workplace
Reading time 3 Mins
Published on Feb 14
Share

Americans spend about one-third of their lives working. With so much time spent in the workplace, it’s no surprise that some colleagues may end up in romantic relationships. While it may seem logical to end up with someone whom you spend so much time with, relationships in the workplace can often lead to problems in the office, including tensions, harassment, and accusations of unfair treatment. Addressing workplace romances and having a strong policy on personal relationships in place can help your company prevent many of these problems from derailing your business.

Unequal relationships

Since many of the issues with workplace romances involve potential conflicts and legal repercussions that may arise, HR and management should be particularly aware of and wary of relationships between supervisors and direct reports. Representing the biggest potential conflict, these relationships can often lead to litigation and accusations of unfair treatment, sexual harassment, and conflicts of interest.

Part of your workplace romance or fraternization policy should directly address and forbid these types of relationships. If such a relationship is reported by those involved, another employee, or discovered by management, the situation should be dealt with delicately and any conflicts of interest should be eliminated. This may mean moving one or both members of the relationship to another department or more progressive disciplinary action, depending on your exact policy.

More equal footing

When relationships emerge between co-workers on equal levels or who work in different department where neither are in a supervisory role over the other there is less potential conflict or feelings of unfair treatment from other employees. However, this doesn’t mean that the potential for litigation and harassment goes away completely.

Some companies choose to implement policies that ban relationships between employees in the same department or even in different departments to reduce the likelihood of conflicts and relationship issues from disrupting the workplace.

Professional conduct

When employees enter into romantic relationships the personal dynamics of their relationship can follow them into the workplace. If you choose to allow your employees to have workplace romances, your policy should still cover how they should handle their relationship in the workplace. First, personal relationships should never interfere with employees performing their own or others’ work responsibilities. As it makes others feel uncomfortable and leads to a less professional environment, PDA should be avoided at all costs. Always emphasize the importance of professional conduct in the workplace.

There’s a policy for that

Every company should have a company policy on relationships in the workplace and dating between employees. Whatever your policy, be sure to include the types of relationships that are permitted and discouraged, as well as the disciplinary action that can result from disregarding those rules. Taking a proactive approach can help your company avoid the pitfalls and awkward situations that can result from romantic relationships in the workplace. Establishing rules about relationships in advance can prevent employees from getting the perception that their situation is being singled out by management. Your policy should also ask employees to disclose relationships to supervisors and assure employees that the information will be kept confidential.

Get your free consultation with a Sheakley HR representative today and find out how we can help you develop policies and procedures to help you create or improve upon your existing workplace romance policy. Stay up-to-date on all things Sheakley by subscribing to our blog and following us on social media. Join in the discussion by commenting below.


You may want to read

See all articles
X
X
X
X