In the wake of #MeToo, it is increasingly evident that employers should be protecting their staff from any form of sexual harassment. In anticipation of the new positive duty to prevent sexual harassment coming into force later this month (26 October), employers will need to tread a very careful line in fostering a healthy, workplace culture and taking “reasonable steps” to protect their employees. Will this entail policing what has traditionally been seen as a normal part of working life – the office romance?! 

If employers place a blanket ban on any form of intimate relationships between colleagues, employers risk losing talent as they leave in order to pursue a romantic relationship with a (now former) colleague. I question also whether it would be realistic to expect adherence to a blanket ban, with the likely consequence being to force relationships underground; as love conquers all.  However, without any form of checks and balances, an employer may find a workforce littered with complex inter-personal histories, private (and maybe unknown) conflicts of interest and, in some more extreme cases, dangerous and unprofessional power imbalances. The negative impact on morale and productivity aside, any of these scenarios has the potential to culminate in costly and time-consuming litigation and to destroy both corporate and personal reputations.

In the last few years we have seen an increasing number of large corporations implement work place relationship policies, which place boundaries on personal, intimate relationships in order to maintain a healthy workplace culture and protect more vulnerable employees. Following ITV, McDonald’s and BP and in light of the new duty, I couldn’t help but wonder… should corporate relationship policies become the new normal?