The social relationship is welcomed by both employees and accepted by mutual agreement. When we enter into this relationship, we understand and accept the following: We, the undersigned employees, have voluntarily entered into a social relationship. These guidelines can help credit unions, their managers, and dating staff prevent things from getting sour at the end of a relationship. „When he ended the relationship, she filed a lawsuit for sexual harassment, and he was eventually forced to leave the company,“ Wobber says. „If there had been a contract for consensual relationships, the allegation of sexual harassment might not have occurred. If these contracts had existed in his company, HR would have had the opportunity to get involved and inform the manager of the consequences in the event of a problem. `Workers must inform [employers] without delay when the employment relationship ends or when the conduct of the other worker is no longer desirable. [Employee Name A], employed by [Company Name] as [Job Title] and [Employee B Name], employed by [Company Name] as [Job Title], hereby informs [Company Name] that we have entered into a voluntary and mutually consensual social relationship. Kluger advises a culture of transparency when it comes to employee relationships. A consensual relationship agreement provides employers with a management tool. The contract can be short, he says, simply a signed document stating that a couple is in a consensual relationship, with the promise to inform the employer if their status changes.

(XpertHR provides a standard contract. Registration required.) The social relationship does not violate [the employer`s] anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, and participation in the social relationship has not been made a condition or duration of employment. While romantic relationships are quite common in the workplace, you have reason to worry about dating employees. For the reasons I`m going to discuss below, I`m not sure that two employees who sign this type of agreement really reduce the risk of a sexual harassment complaint from one of the employees involved in the relationship, but so we`re all on the same page before sharing my thoughts, Here`s an example of a consensual relationship agreement: Despite the potential benefits of such deals, Wobber says she can see how her administration „would be a nightmare for a company`s human resources department.“ In many ways, she says, „it`s simply easier for a company to have a no-meet policy and effectively ignore the realities of human relationships.“ Employees will behave professionally towards each other at all times, even if the social relationship ends. „Today, some employers have policies that prohibit romances in the workplace, but I`ve come to believe that you can`t stand in the way of love. We need policies and tools that allow people to be honest about workplace relationships so that those relationships can be managed. In fact, he adds, „it sends the wrong message to have rules against workplace romances because these guidelines will drive people underground. Just like Romeo and Juliet, banning such relationships will end in disaster. Conclusion: Employers would be better served if they focused their efforts on creating a culture of compliance and respect in the workplace, rather than employees engaging in an open office to sign consensual relationship agreements. Unfortunately, human behavior dictates that there will always be employees working in secret office relationships. These employees are unlikely to declare their secrets themselves and change their behaviour because it is the employer`s practice for employees to sign consensual relationship agreements. In fact, such a practice could have the opposite result if these employees continue to go underground in their secret relationship – until, of course, he is angry and one or both employees file a lawsuit for harassment or hostile work environment.

As with prenuptial agreements, employees can be so caught up in the positive aspects in the early stages of a relationship that they don`t see the potential for risk on the street. However, this risk is real. „In the age #MeToo where allegations of harassment have increased dramatically when two employees are involved in a romantic relationship, one way an employer can protect their legitimate business interests in maintaining a productive and efficient workplace without harassment is for employees to sign a love contract,“ says Beth Zoller, JD, legal writer at XpertHR. Kathleen Wobber, a lawyer who has more than 25 years of experience in family and business law and who represents a number of companies and senior executives as a labour lawyer, shares recent experience in representing a senior executive in a large company who had a relationship with a woman who was not her subordinate, but who worked at a lower level in the organization. „Sometimes referred to as fraternization or anti-dating policies, these rules are usually designed to manage romantic relationships in the workplace,“ according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, based in Alexandria, Virginia). And they exist for a good reason. SHRM points to a study by CareerBuilder that shows that 36% of employees dated a colleague — 30% say they dated someone in a higher position than their own — and 22% were involved in a romantic relationship with their boss. What could go wrong? Many, as recent titles prove. We have just learned that two of our employees are in a romantic relationship and that we do not currently have consensual relationship agreements. Although they are not in a relationship between superior and subordinate, should we still worry? What should we do? During my twenty-three year legal career, I have provided legal advice and advice in more than two hundred cases of sexual harassment. In none of these situations did the sexual harassment complaint stem from an office romance in which the two employees involved had previously communicated the romance to the employer. On the contrary, the majority of situations involving a relationship that went wrong stemmed from an extramarital relationship in the workplace that employees wanted to keep secret for obvious reasons.

Any employee may terminate the relationship at any time without suffering retaliation in the workplace in any form. If applicable, any dispute arising out of the company relationship or this Agreement will be resolved by arbitration. While consensual relationship agreements can be a good idea for employers and employees, employers can`t force or force employees to sign such contracts, Zoller says. Employers „can only suggest that this is a good idea because it will protect everyone`s interests.“ But, she adds, „even if people involved in romantic life refuse to sign it, the employer can still enforce its harassment policy, dating and personal relationships policy, and any conflict of interest policy.