Heading into the Valentine’s Day holiday is always a good time for HR professionals to dust off their company’s fraternization policies, and to remind your managers and employees of these guidelines.
First, don’t try to fight it, as workplace romance is bound to happen. But you do need clear parameters for employees to follow. A fraternization policy lets employees know exactly which relationships are and are not acceptable. A good policy has these four sections:
1. Purpose. Let employees know that a policy is necessary to prevent managers from playing favorites and protect the organization from sexual harassment claims.
2. Parameters. Spell out which relationships the organization will tolerate and which ones it won’t. Are bosses permitted to socialize with subordinates? What about relationships that could create conflicts of interest, disrupt work or make others on the team uncomfortable? Explain your limits. Supervisor/subordinate rules: It’s unwise for a supervisor to be romantically linked with a subordinate, and many organizations have a fraternization policy forbidding that practice. Very often, charges of favoritism, harassment and retaliation follow on the heels of those romances that have gone sour.
3. Procedure. If you allow romantic liaisons, consider asking each half of the couple to sign a “love contract” attesting that the relationship is consensual and that both parties understand your sexual harassment policy. Written documentation will come in handy if your organization is the target of legal action.
4. Punishment. Decide the consequences for employees who ignore your written policy on office romances. Specify the discipline in your policy. Some options:Transferring participants to different departments; termination if a relationship sours and veers toward harassment or retaliation.
Advice: Enforce your policy uniformly. Punishing one couple but not another for violating the policy will appear unfair and could increase your legal liability, especially if a supervisor is involved.
