Office Romance Policy and Contract

Office romance can pose problems for employers. If the romance goes bad, one of the parties may claim sexual harassment. If the romance goes well, other employees may claim favoritism and discrimination. Here are some suggestions to consider for an employer policy on office romance and a proposed relationship contract.  Each employer should consider its policy carefully. You may want to contact us for a consultation to determine the right policy for you.

Consensual Relationship Policy

The Company has a policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. This policy applies to all employees of the Company, including supervisors, managers and executives. To prevent harassment, some employers prohibit employees from dating, or entering into consensual social relationships with other employees. The Company does not feel that such extreme measures are necessary, so long as both parties mutually and voluntarily consent to the social relationship, and the social relationship does not affect the performance of their duties or negatively impact the Company’s business. To ensure that social relationships do not violate the sexual harassment policy, employees who enter into such relationships must comply with the following:

1. Notify the Human Resource Director of the relationship.
2. Review the Company’s policy prohibiting Sexual Harassment.
3. Sign the Company’s Consensual Relationship Contract.
4. Agree to possible reassignment if the social relationship involves a subordinate employee.
5. Avoid indiscreet behavior while at the workplace.
6. Notify the Human Resource Director should the social relationship terminate.

Relationship Contract

Employee A, employed by the Company as a paper-pusher, and Employee B, employed by the Company as a paper-pusher supervisor, hereby notify the Company that we wish to enter into a voluntary and mutual consensual social relationship.

In entering into this relationship, we both understand and agree that we are both free to end the social relationship at any time. Should the social relationship end, we agree that we will not allow the breakup to negatively impact the performance of our duties.

Before we signed this Consensual Relationship Contract, we received and reviewed the Company’s Sexual Harassment Policy, a copy of which is attached hereto. By signing below, we acknowledge that our social relationship does not violate the Company’s Sexual Harassment Policy, and that entering into the social relationship has not been made a condition or term of employment.

By signing below, we acknowledge that, under the Confidential Medical Information Act, the Company is prohibited from releasing to one of us any information regarding the other’s medical condition, disability or communicable disease.

________________
Employee A

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Employee B