PUBLICATION: Management Today – Workplace Intimacy

Workplace Intimacy

This article will appear in Management Today in December 2005.

The recent tragic shooting at Harvey Nichols by a spurned ex-boyfriend has certainly brought workplace intimacy back into the spotlight. But what can employers do? It has long been said that one of the top three places to meet your partner is at work, so to eliminate this possibility would leave romantics everywhere feeling somewhat cheated.

The reality though is that an open affair or workplace relationship can often distract employees from their jobs and, if it all goes wrong, leave an impossible atmosphere for them and their colleagues. Whatever the implications though, it really is one of the hardest areas to enforce and, if love is blossoming, can you really expect the employees to walk away for the sake of their jobs? Or perhaps even worse, lose a key employee?

Employers should carefully balance their interests against an employee’s right to privacy and ensure there are clear guidelines set out in work policies or company handbooks. If work relationships are forbidden and employees expected to resign in order to continue dating their colleague, make sure the policy is applied regardless of who the employee is. To retain a key employee and ‘turn a blind eye’ to the office fling, could expose you to a claim of unfair dismissal if, for example, the office junior is treated differently.

Finding out about the relationship in the first place also poses a host of difficulties for the employer. Monitoring private emails or calls must be approached extremely cautiously with a balance struck between protecting the business and the privacy of the individual. Employees should always be told if their calls or emails may be monitored and the reasons why (quality, training and security being the most popular ones cited). Employers should decide first whether they wish to have a blanket ban and, if so, whether they would be prepared to police and enforce it, regardless of whom the offending employee is. A fairer balance may well be struck by having a sensible policy that is properly communicated to all the employees requiring them to keep their private lives out of the office. It may not stop the crazed ex-boyfriend in the Harvey Nichols case, but then I doubt prohibiting workplace intimacy would have either.

This information was written by Caroline Walker, head of the Employment Law Department at Sprecher Grier Halberstam LLP, Solicitors.

Caroline Walker Partner / Head of Employment Law 020 7264 4385 carolinew@sghlaw.com