Employment and HR adviser, Croner are urging bosses to sign romantically-engaged workers up to a ‘love contract’.
Far worse than the obvious awkwardness experienced when a relationship breaks down between two colleagues is the threat of sexual harassment warns Croner.
Richard Smith, HR expert at the firm said: “You can’t legislate against love, but companies should consider issuing guidelines to employees on acceptable behaviour if they have a relationship with a colleague, and must include clearly defined grievance procedures.”
According to Croner, only 20% of firms have a formal ‘love’ policy in place despite 71% admitting to having had a romance with a fellow worker – 10% with their boss.
Croner advises bosses to:
- Accept office relationships will happen and don’t ban them altogether.
- Develop an acceptable code of conduct, such as behaving professionally at work, keeping the relationship from other colleagues, and agreeing to work professionally should the relationship fail.
- When designing a policy, consider the culture and set-up of the workplace.
- Clearly define grievance procedures.
- Seek professional legal advice if you are considering including an office romance disclosure clause as this may infringe on an employee’s right to privacy.
- Communicate the company’s policy on workplace relationships.
- Should a claim be made, follow instructions give and seek professional legal advice.
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