Employers, Wake Up and Smell the Roses!

They May Have Come From Down the Hall.

As you walk around the office this week and notice the Valentine's Day sweet nothings still decorating your employees' offices, you may need to devote some attention to the employee who received flowers from "Bob in Accounting". . . and you'll definitely need to take some steps to protect your business if the flowers are from, "Your Supervisor." With the economy forcing many employees to work longer hours, it appears that the office has turned into a matchmaking hotbed.

According to CareerBuilder.com's annual survey of 8,000 office workers, 40 percent of workers have had at least one romantic relationship with a co-worker. Even more surprisingly, 67 percent of workers currently involved in an office romance said that they made no effort to keep their relationship a secret. In fact, some individuals even felt comfortable enough to broadcast their relationship status over the Internet and social media Web sites such as Facebook. It is okay if these statistics make you feel a bit squeamish.

Upon learning about an office romance, it is imperative that a business take steps to protect its interests. In particular, we suggest you sit down with your resident love-birds and come to terms on what some call a "Cupid Agreement." A cupid agreement, also called a "Love Contract," is designed to protect your business from some of the potentially expensive or uncomfortable consequences that may arise from an office romance – especially if the relationship turns sour.

A well-crafted cupid agreement should, for example, provide an acknowledgment that the relationship is entirely consensual and uncoerced, and that neither individual has been subjected to, or will in the future subject the other to, unwelcome sexual advances or other harassment or discrimination. Additionally, if the relationship is between a supervisor and an employee that he or she supervises, and your business does not have a policy prohibiting such relationships, the employees should agree that position or status were not used to advance the relationship and the employees should clearly acknowledge that the company has the right to make an assignment change or take any other action that it deems appropriate because of the existence of the relationship. In terms of future reporting, the agreement should give the name of a company official to whom either party may report any unwelcome conduct that might occur – and secure their agreement to immediately do so if it becomes an issue. Finally, it is often helpful to obtain a commitment that the relationship will not in any way adversely impact the business or other employees in any way. Just because the relationship is in now in the open does not mean that public displays of affection are suitable for the workplace.

Although it may seem like an intrusion into your employees' private lives to request that they enter into a formal agreement over their love lives, it is an intrusion that you simply have to endure to protect your business. If you have any questions about these arrangements, or taking any other steps to protect your business from claims of sexual harassment or discrimination, please contact any member of Ice Miller's Labor and Employment Practice Group.

This publication is intended for general information purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice.  The reader must consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader's specific circumstances.