Love Contracts and Policies on Office Romance: What Can an Employer Do?
In addition to maintaining general policies prohibiting sexual harassment, employers may choose to implement workplace romance policies outlining permissible and prohibited conduct concerning dating among co-workers, points out Ashley Robertson Parr in a web post for Nexsen Pruet, LLC.
“Companies often prohibit relationships between employees in supervisory/subordinate roles, given the inherent issues that arise,” she writes. “Other companies disallow relationships between employees and clients/vendors. Another option is to require employees to inform management of workplace relationships. Regardless of the specifics, such policies should reference the company’s anti-harassment policy and remind employees how to report unwanted conduct. In addition, employers must be diligent in making sure that the policies are enforced fairly and without a disparate impact.”
Her article covers implementing policies addressing workplace relationships, what love contracts are, and the fact that love contracts are not cure-alls.