How to Handle Intra-Office Dating

Business owners often struggle with the question of how to handle intra-office dating. On the one hand, many don't believe they have the right to forbid employees from pursuing a social relationship outside of work; others feel that intra-office dating is simply asking for trouble, and they develop company policies that forbid it. I would like to tell you that there is a comfortable middle ground, but there honestly isn't. Any office romance has the potential to turn sour and create liabilities for your company.

If you are worried about intra-office dating, the best course of action is to form a personal opinion on the subject. Do you have a problem with employees entering into relationships, or would you rather it not happen at all? If you fire two employees based on the suspicion that they are romantically involved, and you don't have an intra-office dating policy that forbids it, both employees might retaliate with a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Once you have decided your stance on intra-office dating, you must publish that stance in the employee handbook or in another place where employees are sure to see it. Inform all employees of your decision and invite any questions about it. Although forbidding intra-office dating is not illegal, it can pose problems if you are not forthright about company policy on the matter. If you decide that it is acceptable behavior, you should still form policies on consequences when intra-office dating interferes with work.

One of the most common fears when it comes to intra-office dating is the potential for relationships between an employee and his or her supervisor. It is never a good idea to put one individual in charge of another between whom there is a romantic or sexual relationship. This lays fertile soil for a sexual harrassment claim should the relationship ever wan or turn sour. Further, other employees are likely to pick up on the "chemistry" between those two people and may begin to feel as though the employee in the relationship is receiving special treatment. And the employee him/herself might be worried about ending the relationship and being punished at work.

If you see something like this taking place, it is your job as the boss to step in. Discuss the situation with each employee privately and find out if there is a way for them to work with one another productively. If not, one or both of them must go. If a supervisor is behaving inappropriately to a subordinate after dating for a period of time, he or she should be appropriately reprimanded, if not fired.

Another problem with intra-office dating that you might experience as a business owner is employee/client relationships. If your business involves close work between employees and clients - such as in a law firm or accounting agency - you'll need to develop strict codes of conduct. Employees and contractors should never enter into relationships with clients unless those clients are no longer working with your company. If you suspect that something like this is going on, again, you'll have to step in and correct it.

Whatever your personal beliefs about intra-office dating, you must realize that it is a potential liability and should be addressed. Talk with your employees and find out what they think of intra-office dating. Then, try to come up with a solution that is fair to everyone involved.