What is Consensual Relationship Agreement?
August 17 of 1998 was the day that former US president Bill Clinton admitted his affair with Monika Lewinsky, who used to work in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, in a vague way which was broadcasted on ABC News. In his speech he said “Indeed, I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible ”. It was the conclusion to the scandal which lasted over 7 months.
Romance at the workplace is common, and it is a serious concern for the employers. Those dating employees are selected from the management team to fit in and perform in that professional environment instead of combining their personal lives with the profession. One of the biggest concerns that might be followed by the sour ending of the relationship is sexual harassment lawsuit. But if they really were in a relationship it would be a different story.
For an instance, person A, who is the supervisor of person B have been dating for months. A might favor B over the rest of the employees who do have the same potential as B. B was assigned for several projects that would help her to get promoted. After a while their privacy would be revealed and all the accusations and condemnations would be thrown toward person A. It would be difficult to communicate with B who has been conducting the projects and they light fail to complete it. Now they have to put a period in their relationship whether it was true or based on favoritism. They would be assigned from their positions, or person B might start a lawsuit if there was any inappropriate relationship between the two. In either case, the employer will be the only one who is liable in the court room.
But the CRA which is commonly called “kiss and tell” policy is dedicated the place the companies in more protective positions in front of the court.
1. Argue for the use of Consensual Relationship Agreement (CRA) in your current (or future) workplace.
Dating couples may keep their relationship private so the co-workers might not know their affair for certain period of time, but how long can they keep their secret without letting the colleagues realize it? Most of the organizations discourage this kind of relationship among the coworkers, so those which follow the “kiss and tell” policy would require the couple to sign on the written agreement to avoid the employers from liability.
Such relations would influence the company relationship, teamwork and at last the customers would suffer from the poor performance of the organization which is followed by the irresponsible actions of those lovers.
In 2005 Ohio State University stated following the new policy. The revised CRA restricts the romantic or sexual relationship between faculty staff/graduate associates, undergraduate teaching assistants and students, attending physicians and medical residents/interns/ fellows cannot continue whenever there are supervisory, teaching, evaluation, advising, coaching or counseling responsibilities for the student. (OSU, 2010).
In my future work place, as a manager or as an employer I will initiate “zero-tolerance” organizational policy which would strictly prohibit the inter-staff dating or related romance. Disciplinary actions will be taken toward the employees who violate the policy. They would be transferred somewhere else or if it is needed the management would dismiss the staff from employment.
There are several potential reactions that might occur among the employees, such as they keep their relations secret and co-workers might protect the couple and decide not to reveal the story. Therefore, whoever the policy would clearly state that whoever intentionally did not report the information to the management will be a subject of disciplinary action too.
In my point of view, using the CRA might reduce the risk of sexual harassment and related issues, and would be a little protection for the employer at the court if things turn bad. But if the employer decides to ban office romance or inter-staff dating throughout the organization and make all the employees sign on the agreement that would be the solution for all the relevant problems.
2. Create a counter argument against the use of CRAs in your current (or future) workplace.
According to the Vault’s Office Romance Survey 2010, over 60 percent of the participants admitted that they have involved in office romance in some ways and 63.9 percent reported that they would do it again. This survey shows the majority of the employees are attached to their coworkers for some reason. Maybe it is because they spend 40+ hours a week together and it might be a reason to get along with each other which establish the basis of their relationship.
Depending on the size of the company, the employer would decide whether the organization would have such policy or not. “A lot of office politics is based on jealousy, with people feeling 'slighted' for either real or imaginary reasons, so if you work in an environment where office politics is rife, office romances (or the gossip surrounding them) can get out of hand” (Chapter 7: Dealing with office romances. Bloomsbury Business Library - Survive Office Politics).
CRA might not be the perfect tool to minimize the employers’ liabilities, but it can be a supplementary document for organization’s anti-harassment policy and it might be a reminder for the staffs that the organization discourages office romance incidences instead of strictly prohibiting office romance or proposing penalties toward the employees who violate the agreement, which might arose some uncomfortable feeling among the organization. If you simply ban the consensual relationship at the workplace it might be an obstacle to create warm atmosphere under the strict policy which directs the relations between male and female employees.
Employer and the employees should be aware of the CRA, because if something happens the only person who is liable is the employer. There are benefits if the agreements if followed and implemented properly. And as the leader of the organization, employer and the management team should build the ethical environment in the company, so everyone would have some respect and it’s the creation of professional and warm atmosphere within the organization.
3. Discuss the ethical principles involved in the use of CRAs.
Littler, Mendelson of San Francisco, nation’s largest firm specializing in employment law, pioneered the CRA in order to put the office romance issue in a legal frame (Kuntz, 1998).
The relationship between the supervisor and subordinate would definitely affect to the morale and performances of the employees. The worst part is this incident may cease the staff’s motivation to work harder and to be a part of the team. Especially when the supervisor or manager is involved in the office romance, the rest of the team might start playing around instead of performing. Morale is like an infectious virus that permeates the atmosphere and soaks up the employee’s positive mental and physical energy (P.Amaral, 2006). Therefore, an employer or a supervisor must understand one’s position to lead the teammates and build the ethics within the organization.
For an organization it is ethical to have a proper policy that is dedicated to handle the human issues of romance or falling in love at the work place, which cannot be simply prohibited. For an instance in an office where the inter-staff romance is strictly banned, a person who loves another would suffer from the policy, so it would affect to his work either.
In my opinion CRA should be elaborated more for the supervisors or managers to remind them to play a role as decent leader instead of a lover in the office. Favoritism should not exist within the organization, which can be regulated by CRA. Once the supervisors oversee the lovers’ productivity and actions there would be less risk to the company.
4. Create at least (1) other option besides CRAs that would address workplace romance.
Companies do not encourage inter-staff dating or office romance because of many reasons. However, many do not use CRA as an organizational policy. But there should be some regulation that manages the social relationship among the employees.
Human Resource department or relative management should take any action which should decrease the potential instances of love affairs between the employees that may affect the job performance. If they perceive that CRA is unnecessary, the subject could be added on the agreement between the organization and employee.
In case if the person truly loves the coworker that company management can require them to announce their relationship to the other employees verbally and managers or supervisors and to promise that their affair would not cause any problem that would affect to the company’s stability or their job performance. Even they should declare that they would take the penalties if the oath is violated in some way or another, and the event can be recorded by the management and signed by the management team.
In conclusion dealing with all these human issues does really require a lot of personal and professional skills from the leader. By understanding this, the leader should keep the morale and the ethics in high level to be the role-model for everyone who follows you. Everybody can be called as a manager, but there is a fine line between the manager who leads the employees and the manager who implements the order.
References * Chapter 7: Dealing with office romances. Bloomsbury Business Library - Survive Office Politics, 2006 * Dean & Provost; Dec2010, Vol. 12 Issue 4, p4-4, 1/3p * Helena P.Amaral. 2006. Rhode Island University. Workplace romance and fraternization policies. * TOM KUNTZ. 2/22/1998. New York Times; p7, 0p
