Coping with the thin ice of office romance

With the amount of time we spend at work these days, it should come as no surprise that “the office” is where many singles find true love – or at least someone worthy of a few dates. Great news for single people everywhere! Not so great news for employers.

Workplace romance can have major legal implications for employers. Take, for example, the case of Gary and Diana. Gary is the head of IT and Diana is one of seven other employees in that department who reports to Gary. Having worked together for several years and gotten to know each other fairly well, Gary asks Diana out. Diana accepts and a romantic relationship forms quickly.

While both Gary and Diana do their best to draw a line between their working relationship and their romantic one, that line gets blurred from time to time. Gary gives Diana more interesting assignments and looks the other way when Diana shows up late for work. Needless to say, Diana’s coworkers are not oblivious to this preferential treatment.

Several months after it began, the relationship between Gary and Diana comes to an end. When Diana comes to work late one day, Gary writes her up. Later, Diana is passed over for a project that she had really been hoping to work on. Cue the complaint to HR...

The legal implications in the Gary and Diana scenario are obvious. Diana’s coworkers could allege (and rightfully so) that they were treated differently because they were not in a sexual relationship with the boss. Diana could allege that her job was adversely affected once she stopped submitting to the boss’s sexual advances. So what’s an employer to do?

While most employers have recognized that a flat-out ban on interoffice relationships is not feasible in the modern world, there are steps that can, and should, be taken to minimize both the legal risks and the impact on employee morale.

First and foremost? Employees involved in a romantic relationship should not be in positions where one has a say over the other’s compensation, job assignments, or the like. Taking this step minimizes much of the risk involved in the situation with Gary and Diana.

Another, somewhat more dramatic, step that some employers take is to require employees involved in a romantic relationship to enter into something known as a “love contract.” This document obligates both parties involved in the relationship to acknowledge and agree that (1) the relationship is consensual; (2) they are aware of the company’s harassment policy and will abide by its terms; (3) they will not permit their relationship to interfere with their performance at work; (4) neither party is in a direct supervisory position over the other and that they will not be permitted to transition into such a role over the other and understand the reason for such requirement; (5) neither will try to assert any influence over the other’s employment or employment status, or seek to have input into the other’s performance evaluation, either positively or negatively; and (6) should the romantic relationship end, they will conduct themselves in a mature and professional manner and will not let the termination of the relationship interfere with their performance at the company.

While not very romantic, a love contract can be a useful tool when facing discrimination or harassment claims stemming from a romantic relationship in the workplace. At a minimum, however, requiring employees to disclose these types of relationships and putting as much distance as possible between the employees in the workplace will go a long way. Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Ashley Brightwell is partner in Alston & Bird’s labor and employment practice.