Workplace Romances: Sexual Harassment Risk

There is a saying that “Love knows no boundaries” but there are some instances when love, especially if in the workplace, can be bad for business.

Does David Letterman’s sex scandal ring any bells? While a lot of his love affairs with staff and interns appear to be consensual, former female staffers, Nell Scovell in particular, claimed that sexual politics played a role in the office and that their workplace had a "hostile, sexually charged atmosphere".

Scovell alleged that female staffers who were engaged in relationships with high-level male employees benefitted professionally.

Quid pro quo (translated to “this for that”) is the most common form of sexual harassment. This is committed when an employer, a supervisor, a manager or a boss would provide employment benefits to the employee such as hiring, a promotion, salary increases, shift or work assignments, or good performance reviews in exchange for sexual favor.

Usually, when a staff or employee refuses to engage in relations or give in to the higher up’s sexual request, it results to employment disadvantages such as a demotion or even getting fired.

Both male and female employees can become victims of quid pro quo harassment so it is important for companies to conduct sexual harassment training to make sure that employees and their superiors are aware of certain boundaries in the employer-employee relationship.

In fact, even employees have to be careful about dating within their workplace. A firm from San Francisco which provides ethics and compliance training for companies says that workplace romances can not only cause chaos but can also pose a serious sexual harassment risk to employers.

Under the law, employers can be held liable for sexual harassment even if the offender is a supervisor or a manager, especially if they were negligent in acting upon the aggrieved employee’s complaint or if they are guilty of retaliation.

This month of hearts, while it is true that love knows no boundaries, it is important to bear in mind, that there are limits to love when it comes to the workplace. It is best to be professional and leave your love life out of the office.

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