Romance in the Workplace

Love is in the air!  And unfortunately for cities, sometimes that love can come in the form of those in employee relationships.  So what is an employer to do about these situations? 

Some employers choose to enact policies that completely ban romantic relationships in the workplace, but even this is not without its own set of issues.  By completely banning you can force employees that are in a romantic relationship to go into hiding, which leaves the city completely unaware and unprepared for the issues that may result.  By not dealing with this out in the open it can be the source of even bigger problems down the road.

Other employers choose to allow it to happen as long as there is disclosure.  This can also create problems of its own.  Many employees will perceive that preferential treatment is being received by a coworker based on their relationship, especially when one is in a supervisory role over the other. 

No matter the policy that your city enacts, you need to review your ethics ordinance and personnel policies to see what they say about employees and supervisory relationships.  In addition, does this relationship create a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest and is it the subject of office gossip?  Any relationship, whether it is causal or romantic should not have a negative impact on city business.  And lastly, if love goes south, an employee can claim retaliation and harassment based on the previous relationship, which along with many other problems, may prove to be costly in court.

So how can the city protect itself from love gone wrong? 

• First, have a clearly written policy with expectations set out in an easy to read and understand format.  And, it is recommended that those in supervisory positions should not be allowed to date subordinates under any circumstances. 
• Second, if your city ethics ordinance applies to city employees, and your nepotism policy applies to dating relationships, be certain that it is also included in the personnel policy. 
• Lastly make sure that your sexual harassment policy is up to date, has a clearly established complaint procedure and that all employees and supervisors are trained on what the policy states and what it requires.

Running a city is not all champagne and roses, so you need to protect the city by being proactive.  One of the ways to do this is to have a current and legally compliant personnel policy.  If your city needs to update personnel policies you need to work with someone who not only has expertise in personnel law and human resource matters, but someone who knows municipal law as well.  KLC can offer this expertise in a way that is specific to your city needs.  Whether it is creating or reviewing city personnel policies, providing training on your city policies, sexual harassment, or on a variety of specialized HR topics, we have you covered.  For more information on this service or any other personnel related matters contact Andrea Shindlebower at ashindlebower@klc.org.