Consensual Relationship Agreements - Case Study Example

When people work in office, most of them become more than just colleagues, long life friendships are formed, and people become good friends and even best friends. Sometimes, these friendships take a step ahead and become more than just friendships. Romantic relationships are formed and it is natural because people spend a lot of time together and get to know each other very well. Therefore, employers must be ready and expectant that workplace relationships will take place and there is no stopping them. However, when there are workplace relationships it is probable that the employees who are involved in such relationships might be more distracted than the ones who are in a relationship outside work place. There might be emails, instant messages, phone chats etc. while two people are in a workplace relationship. These things will affect the performance of the employees. Still, these might be controlled if the boss makes it clear that these things will not be appreciated in workplace but then again, there might be rebellious behavior from them. The worst nightmare, however, can be when these people breakup and end their relationship on a bad note. This might affect their performance to great extremes. For example, if one is superior in rank than the other he/she might become biased, judgmental and the other might be discriminated against. Bad words might be exchanged and gossips about them might start which will eventually affect their work. There is also a chance that sometimes on e party might claim that he/she was pressured to be in the relationship. This can bring extreme results which will immediately affect company’s rapport and performance. In such circumstances, the company cannot just tell the employees that there will be no workplace relationships as this will cause rebellion which might bring aggressive responses and attitudes from employees which is even worse. Moreover, more people will do it just to show their adventurous and thrilling side. Also, this can cause frustration among employees. In order to avoid all of the above, an approach might be taken which is called Consensual Relationship Agreements (CRA) which is a written contract signed by two people who are involved in a romantic relationship in an organization. In such a contract, both the parties agree to certain things that mainly cover that both of them are involved in the relationship willingly, with their full consent and are not under any pressure. Moreover, it encompasses their performance’s area, which means that they agree that they will do their best when at work and that they will not let their relationship affect their performance. They also agree that they will keep in mind the policies of the company and will be in a relationship while managing to abide by company’s rules and policies. When I work in an organization, I would like to have Consensual Relationship Agreements there as this not only keeps the workplace serene but also helps those in relationship to save their jobs and not get affected by their relationship’s aftermath. Moreover, it keeps the parties in relationship legally safe as once the relationship ends on a bad note their might be repercussions faced by one party because the other might accuse them of sexual harassment, coercion, misrepresentation etc. Furthermore, it keeps the environment of the company stable as if there is a discrepancy between two colleagues for whatever reason; others naturally get affected by their behavior. Therefore, I would like there to be a policy to enter into consensual relationship agreements in the workplace that I work in so that I do not have to worry about adverse results in case I or my colleague is involved in a workplace relationship. 2. Create a counter argument against the use of CRAs in your current (or future) workplace However, much as these Consensual Relationship Agreements sound affective, this might not be the case in reality. Let alone the part where a person is saved from sexual harassment’s accusation, there is little that Consensual Relationship Agreements can do. This could be because people might not want to share about their relationship openly or at least with their boss. There might be personal reasons because of which people might not enter into Consensual Relationship Agreements. Moreover, as far as favoritism is concerned, there is no way to judge that there won’t be any. There is no way that another person can be alleged for having done an act of favoritism. Plus, there is the point where people like to keep their lives privates and do not want to become part of discussions in the workplace. This might actually keep the employees in their old working level and might not affect their performance if they are willing to hide their relationship from the people who work in their office with them and with their boss. They will not exchange emails or instant messages in office because they would not want someone to find out about them like that and become centre of attention or centre of gossip around the office. Thus Consensual Relationship agreements might not be as effective as they sound. Discuss the ethical principles involved in the use of CRAs.  Then there are ethical issues with the use Consensual Relationship Agreements. The ethical issues that need to be looked upon regarding consensual relationship agreements are that it is invasion of privacy, it is also telling people how to behave in a relationship and if two employees enter into such an agreement they are bound to become the food for gossip. This might affect performance of the employees negative if they wanted to keep their relationship private and had to enter the agreement because it was a mandatory policy. Moreover, there are other ethical issues, for example, if the couple who entered in Consensual Relationship Agreement breaks up, there might be some points that they might not want to pursue but they will have to since it will be a contract. This might actually have adverse impact on the performance of employees. People might also be reluctant to enter in to Consensual Relationship Agreement but they might have to because it was made mandatory by the organization. Create at least one (1) other option besides CRAs that would address workplace romances.  Therefore, employers should look into other methods that would address workplace romance. These could include policies such as anti sexual-harassment policies. These policies should be clear and should be brought into everybody’s notice so that no one can claim that they were unaware of the policy. Moreover, there should be clear notice given to employees of the penalties that there will be, if the employees fail to act on the policies. There should also be a policy where employees must reveal their interest in case of conflict of interest. This means that if they are making a decision where the person they are involved with is concerned they must tell the boss about their relationship with the person. This will help with avoidance of favoritism. Include three (3) external peer-reviewed sources to support your position. In order to get point of views of my peers, I asked three of them what they think of the Consensual Relationship agreements and their responses were as follows; RESPONDENT 1 Consensual Relationship Agreements are a good way to address workplace romance. However, there are many ethical issues attached to it. Therefore it is feasible to go for other methods that can be used to avoid workplace romance. However, keep the CRA intact as it might be what some employees want to get into and might find it feasible. RESPONDENT 2 CRA is an excellent approach to create workplace calm but there are some issues related to it, therefore it should be left on the employees whether or not they want to go for it. Moreover, other policies regarding sexual harassment etc must be formulated in order to ensure there is no workplace harassment. RESPONDENT 3 Workplace relationships are extremely common, while there are many who do not mind sharing about their relationships, there are some who like to keep these things completely private. Signing a CRA might not help them keep this a private matter. In order to avoid such situations CRA should not be made compulsory for all employees. Thus, from the responses of the three respondents above, it is clear that it should be kept in mind that people are not offended whatever approach is being taken as if they are offended and do not feel comfortable, there will be an impact on their performance which is exactly what is being tried to avoid. REFERENCES Kellog Forum. Consensual Relationship Agreements. Retrieved from http://www.kelloggforum.org/consensual-relationship-agreements/ Society for Human Resource Management, (2008). HR magazine: Sign in the name of Love. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/Publications/hrmagazine/EditorialContent/Pages/2Tyler-Love%20Contracts.aspx New York Times, (1998). Word for Word / Consensual Relationship Agreements; For Water Cooler Paramours, The Ties That (Legally) Bind. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/22/weekinreview/word-for-word-consensual-relationship-agreements-for-water-cooler-paramours-ties.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Nixon Peabody, (2008). Love contracts in the workplace: “What’s love got to do with it?”. Retrieved from http://www.nixonpeabody.com/publications_detail3.asp?ID=2181 Dating In the Workplace: Avoiding A Harassment Claim From A Relationship Gone Sour, Karen Sutherland. Retrieved from http://www.omwlaw.com/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=28 StaffOne. 10 ways to handle Workplace Romance. Retrieved from http://www.peocompare.com/product_pdfs/WorkPlace-Romance-Staff-One.pdf Read More