posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 9:49 AM
by
Lou Michels
Who Wrote the Book/Policy of Love?
Here's an appropriate posting for Valentine's Day. While most employers don't write a book about love, many of them have policies regarding dating in the workplace. According to a recent Society for Human Resource Management ("SHRM") survey, only a minority of companies address workplace romantics with some form of guidance, however.
The numbers cited by SHRM are noteworthy because problematic office romances have received their fair share of attention lately. Think Boeing and the California Department of Corrections case mentioned below. The survey notes that there seems to be an increased tolerance for workplace dating among management form previous years, noting a decrease in concern over potential sexual harassment allegations by HR professionals -- 95% were concerned in 2001, but only 77% in 2005. However, there is an increased worry about something that I would think is much more obvious--favoritism and retaliation between coworkers who are alternatively on the receiving or losing end of a romantic relationship.
One area where SHRM's survey did reveal an increase in focus was on relationships between superiors and subordinates; 80% of the HR professionals said such relationships should be prohibited, up from 64% in 2001. Thirty-nine percent of the HR professionals surveyed said that their companies require employees to inform their supervisors of workplace related romances, an increase of 16% from the 2001 survey.
The survey also revealed that approximately 1/3 of the respondents have what is referred to as an "office spouse," that is a "non-romantic" (but perhaps not for long) male-female exclusive relationship that takes place only within the confines of work, on breaks or at lunch, for example. These relationships are typically characterized as superficial or harmless, but obviously have the potential to develop some real problems.
I tend to have a much more jaundiced view of workplace romances because I only see the ones that either end up in litigation or are the cause of litigation. Given the expansive definitions of hostile work environment contained in recent California cases, and the normal concerns about favoritism/nepotism, there would appear to be very little upside for an employer that doesn’t pay attention to the romantic liaisons in its workforce. Especially crucial are relationships between management and subordinate employees, even where no direct superior-subordinate relationship exists. My experience is that coworkers will always believe that any benefit received by the lower-ranking employee in such a relationship is always a result of the relationship, and not job competence. This perception obviously creates larger problems for everyone as a relationship continues. I regularly counsel my clients to require disclosure of these kinds of relationships at a minimum, and, if possible, prohibit them.