Posted Thursday 23rd January 2020
Workplace relationships have always been a controversial subject, but in recent months, two high profile cases have fixed the media spotlight back on office relationships. The two cases have involved former McDonalds CEO, Steve Easterbrook and the outgoing CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), Willie Walsh.
Easterbrook was forced to resign in November of last year, after McDonalds claimed that he had ‘violated company policy’ and shown ‘poor judgement’. This occurred despite the fact that no complaint had arisen and his relationship with a colleague was consensual. More recently, IAG announced the retirement of Willie Walsh, even though Walsh had suggested he would be staying until 2021 just two months ago. While IAG have claimed that Walsh’s relationship with a colleague has nothing to do with his departure, the timing and situational factors have made some question whether it is truly coincidental.
So, with approximately one in five long term relationships starting in the workplace, and with high profile cases dominating the headlines, are there really any legal implications of an office romance? And if so, do the rules differ between same-level relationships and manager-junior relationships?
In the UK there is currently no formal legislation governing workplace relationships and how an employer should approach them. Therefore, whether an office relationship constitutes grounds for dismissal, with or without notice, depends on the nature of the relationship and what the company’s employment contracts and policies say about such conduct.
Following a long-established trend in the US, an increasing number of UK companies are asking employees to sign ‘love contracts’, legally binding them not to engage in romantic affairs with co-workers. How any breaches of such contracts are dealt with are then at the discretion of the company, based on what the employment contract states around such conduct. It would appear McDonalds had a clause of this nature in Easterbrook’s contract and, as was their right, chose to execute it to the fullest extent in terminating their one-time Chief Executive’s contract for ‘violation of company policy’.
Whilst requiring employees to sign ‘love contracts’ could be considered an extreme measure, many organisations do require staff to report such a relationship to the employer. This moral policing by employers can, however, lead to disputes about possible infringement of an individual’s right to respect for their private and family life, under article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
In light of these high-profile dismissals, it has been increasingly noted that many employers are choosing to actively ban relationships, even between same-level colleagues. The most obvious reason, perhaps, is the issue of distraction, not only between the two employees involved, but amongst other employees who may gossip, or find issue with the involvement of two colleagues.
There is also the worry that, in the likely event of one of the involved employees getting promoted by the other or them splitting up on bad terms, it would begin to result conflict. This could stretch from minor bias in the office, to serious compliance issues resulting in potential legal risk issues for businesses.
While these problems are also relevant when addressing relationships between management and junior employees, there is a third concern for employers, that is mostly applicable in relation to different level relationships: the risk of potential lawsuits, due to the increased risk of sexual harassment, sex discrimination or victimisation claims.
For this reason, many employers are understandably seeking to mitigate the risk, and in line with the public scandals, we are seeing an increased number of senior executives actively seeking advice on whether they can be dismissed for a workplace relationship. Some employers are even forcing out senior level staff for having relationships with more junior members of staff, even where in doing so there is no contractual/policy breach. Such employers are taking the approach that the fact of the relationship itself can potentially damage the reputation of the business, especially given the level of post #MeToo interest in such matters.
Our advice? If you are senior and are in, or heading towards, an office romance with a junior work colleague, learn from the recent high-profile cases, understand your contractual position, but also be aware that the in the current socio-political climate, allegations of misconduct may be used to build a case for your dismissal due to the potential reputational damage to the business. Dismissal on such grounds may be used to try and force the return of share options on the basis of what is known as ‘bad leaver’ status.
This article is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any action.
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