Achieving high levels of performance from people at work is essential in today’s competitive market place. Organisations should treat any form of harassment or bullying seriously, not just because of the legal implications, but because it can lead to under-performance at work and a workplace environment which is free from hostility enables people to contribute more effectively to organisational success and to achieve higher levels of job satisfaction.

An organisation’s public image can be badly damaged when incidents of harassment occur, particularly when they attract media attention. This can affect relationships between an employer, their current and future employees, as well as their customers.

Employees can be subject to high levels of stress which can reduce engagement and may lead to higher labour turnover, increased sickness absence and less productive and effective teams.

Organisations should aim to develop a culture in which harassment is known to be unacceptable and where individuals are confident enough to bring complaints without fear of ridicule or reprisal. Everybody needs to feel responsible for challenging all forms of harassment and for upholding personal dignity.

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and once again HR must consider the challenges of office romances. Is the age old saying ‘never mix business with pleasure’ indicate that often one or the other suffers as a result. The question is, should employers outlaw or ignore relationships when love blooms at work?

Employers should also have concerns with distractions, tensions and even jealousy arising from a workplace romance giving the potential to affect employees’ performance and could lead to claims of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Advice to Employers
It seems draconian in modern times to ban relationships between colleagues entirely – and it would certainly be near impossible to manage. A better solution is for the organisation to have some control over workplace liaisons.

As with any policy, guidelines on office romances should be clear, fair, made known to employees and followed consistently. The organisation should determine what it considers to be unacceptable behaviour or misconduct in the workplace. Suggestions include;

• inappropriate physical contact;
• inappropriate use of language; or
• personal use of company communications systems.

Policies might include preventing those in a relationship working closely together and from interviewing, managing or promoting each other. Such rules might be incorporated into relevant existing policies, such as those recognising equal opportunities or dignity at work. Employers might feel that workplace romances warrant their own consideration in certain environments.

As with most policies, they should be thought of as guidance or a code of conduct so that any breach would be seen as misconduct rather than a breach of contract.
Equal opportunities policies should make it specific that everyone will be treated fairly and on merit, limiting the opportunity for favouritism or victimisation occurring during romantic relationships.

Organisations may include a clause in senior employees’ employment contracts prohibiting relationships with subordinate employees within their own teams, departments or locations.

For information call 0161 493 1963

“In terms of practical solutions, employers could think about offering flexible hours – many of the matches will kick off at 5pm so allowing staff to leave work an hour earlier will enable them to see the games. Arrangements could be agreed to start earlier the next day or make up time another day. Likewise, if there is an evening match, the policy on flexibility could be used to allow employees to start work an hour later, which may encourage attendance where there has been excessive drinking. To minimise disruption, some employers are actually planning to screen the matches at the workplace whilst others are offering unpaid time off.”

P3 People Management is a leading Human Resources outsourcing consultancy based in Manchester which works with a range of businesses across the North West.

For information call 0161 493 1963