The Workplace Romance policy provides guidelines for employees engaged in romantic or sexual relationships with colleagues. It aims to ensure professionalism, prevent conflicts of interest, and maintain a harmonious work environment while respecting individual freedoms and choices.
Customize this workplace romance policy based on your company’s attitude toward employee dating. Add or delete parts to communicate applicable rules regarding romantic relationships in the workplace and preserve harmony and fairness among all employees.
The workplace romance policy should include:
Our workplace dating policy provides guidelines our employees should follow when they’re romantically or sexually involved with a colleague. We also set some standards for acceptable behavior when flirting with colleagues.
We don’t want to place undue restrictions on employees dating each other, as everyone should be free to choose their partners. But, we want to make sure that relationships won’t cause awkwardness or problems in our workplace.
This policy applies to all our employees regardless of gender, sexual orientation or other protected characteristics.
In the context of this policy, “employee dating” includes consensual romantic relationships and sexual relations. We explicitly prohibit non-consensual relationships.
Before you decide to date a colleague, please consider any problems or conflicts of interest that may arise. For example, if you’re working with a colleague on an important project, a relationship between the two of you (or a possible breakup) could affect your work. Make sure you’ve thought about all parameters before making a decision.
While we don’t object to employee relationships, our workplace is still a professional setting. We expect our employees to treat each other with respect and avoid hindering other people’s work. If you want to express your romantic interest in a colleague, don’t do anything that may embarrass or expose them and always respect their time and choices. [You’re allowed to ask a colleague on a date only once. If they say ‘no’ or give an ambiguous answer, don’t ask again.]
If a colleague is persistent in flirting with you and becomes annoying or disturbs your work, ask them to stop and inform your manager [if they continue]. Please report them to HR if they make unwanted sexual advances. Sexual harassment is prohibited, including seemingly harmless actions. For example, an employee who keeps flirting when their colleague doesn’t respond favorably is breaking our sexual harassment policy. In this case, they will face disciplinary action. For more details on what constitutes sexual harassment and how to report it, please refer to our anti-harassment policy.
HR won’t get involved in your private lives and will always be discreet. You don’t need to tell us if you go on a few dates with a colleague or become involved for [less than two months], as long as there’s no disruption in the workplace or your own work. But if your relationship lasts longer than [two months], please inform HR. We want to be aware of these relationships so we can better handle gossip or conflicts of interest.
Also, make sure to:
We expect you to always behave appropriately and follow our Code of Conduct. This means you and your partner shouldn’t behave in a way that:
Examples of acceptable behavior are:
Examples of unacceptable behavior are:
Employees who exhibit unacceptable behavior will face progressive discipline.
If your relationship ends, maintain professionalism and ensure you won’t disrupt our workplace. You mustn’t badmouth your former partner, sabotage their work or reveal any intimate details. All these break our code of conduct about respect in the workplace and you will face disciplinary action. If your former partner behaves this way, report them to HR and we will investigate as soon as possible.
If you’re facing emotional or psychological issues, [ask HR about our employee assistance program]. [You could also ask whether your insurance provider covers any therapy sessions with an external mental health professional.]
To avoid accusations of favoritism and abuse of authority, we strictly prohibit supervisors from dating their team members or those who report to their team members (directly or indirectly). If they do, they’ll face disciplinary action up to and including termination.
If you broke our rules by dating someone who’s a direct report or below the acceptable level of seniority, it’s in your best interest to disclose your relationship as you may face more severe disciplinary action when you’re discovered.
Employees will not face demotion, victimization or loss of benefits. Managers may receive a reprimand depending on the circumstances. We may terminate those who repeatedly disregard this restriction.
If an employee gets promoted or transferred from another department, they may find themselves managing a colleague they used to date. In this case, either of the two should let us know.
When managing a former partner, you must be extra careful with how you behave towards them. You’re not allowed to favor or retaliate against them. You should do everything possible to prove that you’re treating every team member in a fair and professional way. Document every information or incident necessary for performance reviews and ask for your manager or HR’s advice if you need to discipline or reward your former partner.
The following guidelines address employees who are already married, have a domestic partner or other long-term relationship.
If you’re the hiring manager for your team, you’re not allowed to consider your spouse or partner for hiring. Doing so might raise questions of favoritism in the hiring process. You are allowed to refer your partner to other teams or departments where you don’t have any managerial authority.
If we find out that you hired your partner for your team, you will receive a reprimand and you’ll have two choices:
Just like we expect employees to comply with our policy, we have responsibilities that we’re committed to fulfil. We will:
All of us must follow our equal employment opportunity policy at all times. For example, HR must not penalize a homosexual couple differently than a heterosexual couple when they both have violated our employee relationships policy in the same manner.
At any point, we will keep our employees’ freedom and individual rights in mind and follow the law.
| Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy. |
What is an example of a workplace romance policy? A workplace romance policy typically outlines guidelines for employees involved in romantic relationships with colleagues. It addresses acceptable behavior, disclosure requirements, and specific rules for managers to ensure professionalism and prevent conflicts. Why is a workplace romance policy important? A workplace romance policy is essential to maintain professionalism, prevent potential conflicts of interest, and ensure a harmonious work environment. It provides clarity on acceptable behaviors and sets boundaries to protect both employees and the organization. What should a workplace romance policy include? A workplace romance policy should detail guidelines on acceptable romantic behavior, requirements for disclosing relationships, and specific rules for managers dating subordinates or colleagues from different departments. How does the policy address relationships between managers and subordinates? The policy strictly prohibits supervisors from dating their direct reports or those below a certain level of seniority. Violations can result in disciplinary actions, including termination, to prevent favoritism and abuse of authority. What happens if employees break the workplace romance policy? Employees violating the policy may face progressive discipline. This can range from verbal warnings to termination, depending on the severity of the breach and its impact on the workplace.
