Given the number of hours spent together at work, it’s inevitable that romantic relationships will occur between colleagues. This can distort the lines on professionalism at work and raises concern in employers about the effect romantic relationships can have on the workplace.
However, legally there are no laws around preventing office romances and it’s therefore left to employers to determine how they respond to them. It may be tempting to implement a complete office ban on romances, but along with being unpopular amongst your workforce, it is highly difficult to enforce and could potentially breach the human rights of employees. A better way would be to use internal policies to outline what is considered appropriate behaviour in the workplace and to put in place an obligation upon any individuals entering into a romantic relationship, to disclose this to their line manager. As a starting point, employers can look at ways that individuals could work separately, in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest within ongoing projects or general day to day duties. This can also help avoid any accusations of preferential treatment from other members of staff, should the relationship involve a manager and someone on their team.
If you have any further questions on the subject matter then please contact Karen Scott on 07762 629 448 or get in touch by clicking here.
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