Love is in the air … or is it?
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and with it comes love in the air (well for some at least😊). For others, like some managers, it fills them with dread – what if members of their team who are in a relationship have a fight, or worse even break up? Would this upset the good balance in the team?
Valentine’s Day reminds us of love but here is a refresher of how to deal with workplace romances throughout the year.
Whether your employees are having affairs (or there are rumours they are) or out-in-the-open relationships, it is important to strike the right balance between allowing your employees’ rights to a private life whilst ensuring they behave in an appropriate way when they are in a relationship with a work colleague (or indeed, if that relationship breaks down)
You don’t need a policy for this, while some companies request that employees declare their relationships, others apply a pragmatic approach. Let cupid do its thing – after all, it is supposed to be a happy time😊 It would be recommended though to address any indiscretions as soon as possible after they have happened to inform them:
their relationships must not influence their conduct at work e.g. no kissing, cuddling, holding hands, or having discussions of a sexual nature (whether verbal or by email)
no preferential/favourable treatment should be given to the person they are in a relationship with nor should less favourable treatment be given if the relationship ends.
relationships with subordinates can be fraught with problems so clear boundaries between work and personal life are required.
Whilst workplace romances are not against the law, certain behaviours could cross an ethical line, and could be considered to be harassment or discriminatory, remember the law has strengthened in this area so you have greater responsible to prevent these types of complaints occurring. Plus, an office romance that turns sour can turn into an embarrassing situation.
Can we help you?
Where boundaries have been crossed or romances have turned sour, we’ve helped many organisations in the past - usually in these instances to step in and hold those meetings for the client as too sensitive, so it has proven greatly beneficial to the clients to outsource these ‘problems’ to us. Please contact us – we’d love to hear from you.
PS. If you have not yet carried out training for your employees as part of the preventative duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, we can help.