Managing Office Romances
According to a recent CareerJournal.com article, surveys indicate that 41% to 58% of working Americans have been involved with or dated a co-worker. One survey indicates that these numbers are up from previous years.
It happens so easily - you're together much of the day, you share the same interests, you enjoy his/her sense of humor and then you learn you can lose your job because you're dating a co-worker. What? Policies that ban love in the workplace?
Many companies have in fact found it necessary to put policies in place that ban fraternization among co-workers, especially between an employee and his or her supervisor.
Why does the company care who you date?
First of all what happens when/if the romance turns sour? Having had the experience of supervising two "adult" co-workers whose romance ended abruptly I can vouch for the fact that both men and women, when scorned, can be equally nasty and disruptive - and not just to each other.
Secondly, when does office romance cross the line and become sexual harassment? California's Supreme Court ruled recently that workers can sue when a colleague receives preferential treatment stemming from a romantic affair with a supervisor. Creating policies limiting or banning office romance has become sound business practice.
Sound business practice or not - how does one create a policy that really controls or eliminates love in the office? When the inevitable does happen many companies have found ways to address the situation with solutions ranging from one partner leaving the company to assigning the individuals to separate work groups.
Have office romances been an issue in your company? What are the most effective ways of handling these situations? What happens when one of the involved parties is a senior executive? Please comment and share your thoughts and experiences.
To read Adelle Waldman's entire article as posted on CareerJournal.com click here: Weighing the Stakes of Dating Colleagues
Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group
It happens so easily - you're together much of the day, you share the same interests, you enjoy his/her sense of humor and then you learn you can lose your job because you're dating a co-worker. What? Policies that ban love in the workplace?
Many companies have in fact found it necessary to put policies in place that ban fraternization among co-workers, especially between an employee and his or her supervisor.
Why does the company care who you date?
First of all what happens when/if the romance turns sour? Having had the experience of supervising two "adult" co-workers whose romance ended abruptly I can vouch for the fact that both men and women, when scorned, can be equally nasty and disruptive - and not just to each other.
Secondly, when does office romance cross the line and become sexual harassment? California's Supreme Court ruled recently that workers can sue when a colleague receives preferential treatment stemming from a romantic affair with a supervisor. Creating policies limiting or banning office romance has become sound business practice.
Sound business practice or not - how does one create a policy that really controls or eliminates love in the office? When the inevitable does happen many companies have found ways to address the situation with solutions ranging from one partner leaving the company to assigning the individuals to separate work groups.
Have office romances been an issue in your company? What are the most effective ways of handling these situations? What happens when one of the involved parties is a senior executive? Please comment and share your thoughts and experiences.
To read Adelle Waldman's entire article as posted on CareerJournal.com click here: Weighing the Stakes of Dating Colleagues
Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group
posted by The H.S. Group at
6:41 AM
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