The Ethics of Workplace Privacy - Case Study Example

? Case Study: Consensual Relationship Agreements Consensual Relationship Agreements Work place ethics are extremely crucial in order to maintain a productive workplace where every employee feels comfortable to work in. Over the years, work place ethics have evolved as management experts try to develop ways in which to make a better workplace. With regard to work place ethics, there is always a conflict between employee privacy and employer’s concerns for productivity. One of the eminent issues with regard to workplace ethics is the issue of personal relationship in the workplace. This topic has attracted all sorts of views with two distinct views emanating from the issue. Some people believe that workplace romantic relationships should be allowed and that employers should never try to inhibit them. Others, on the other hand, believe that these relationships should be inhibited and that the employees should not be allowed to express their feelings and emotions at work because this interferes with proper workplace ethics (Cohen, 2009). Consensual relationship agreement is a process that has been suggested for managing workplace relationships. A consensual relationship agreement is like a relationship contract where two individuals sign an agreement that explicitly reveals their personal and romantic relationships. As they sign the agreement, they agree to be in the relationship willingly and that their relationship will not affect their professionalism in the workplace. Advantages Consensual relationship agreements are extremely useful both to employees and the organization. Having employees sign this kind of agreement will be useful in making sure that any personal relationships in the workplace are well managed (Hellriegel, 2007). Employees will be sure that if the relationship takes a different course that it was meant, they will not be victimized by their partners by being sued for sexual harassment. A consensual relationship agreement will also help the employees to be sober about their professionalism and be able to separate their personal and professional life. Moreover, signing a consensual relationship agreement will be a better way of aiding the employees in having a relationship that they are not ashamed of and that has a better foundation. Consensual relationship agreements are no more of privacy intrusion than a marriage contract, especially considering that there is nothing for employees to be shameful about if their relationship is open and not based on negative foundations such as immorality or cheating other existing spouses. Employees can also benefit from the consensual relationship agreement because it will protect them from getting into relationships with people who are not serious about the relationship. All these factors indicate that the workplace will be improved and that the negative effects that come from personal relationships in the workplace will not be a problem. Argument Against Consensual relationship agreements also have negative impacts. For one reason, the use of consensual relationship agreements assumes that the relationships have a starting point. It is not easy to determine when and where a romantic relationship starts so that the parties involved can decide to sign the contract. While the whole idea of consensual relationship agreements is good because it is meant to make the workplace a better place and avoid confusions in the workplace, its implementation can only remain to be elusive. Studies show that employees resent being micromanaged even from a professional point of view, let alone from a personal point of view. Telling employees that they have to sign a contract or an agreement in order for them to have a personal relationship is not as practical as it is theoretical. The spirit of consensual relationship agreements may be good, but how to implement is the problem. The other issue with consensual relationship agreements is that it fails to consider that relationships are volatile and always shifting. For instance, two people in a relationship may keep getting in and out of the relationship as time goes by. Failing to understand this fundamental aspect of social relationships can lead to unexpected negative results of using consensual relationship agreements to manage social relations in the workplace. Some employees may not be willing to sign a consensual relationship agreement and forcing them to do so would be intruding into their privacy. Employees have the right to privacy and any firm willing to use consensual relationship agreements to manage workplace romances will have a hard time justifying the process. Where the employees sign a consensual relationship agreement, this will not necessarily mean that the consensual relationship agreement will help in solving the work ethics issues that the agreements are targeted at solving. Besides, having the employees to sign a consensual relationship agreement can be regarded as a self-serving act by the employer because it mainly targeted at securing the employer from lawsuits emanating from foul romantic relations in the workplace. The employee has the right to cushion themselves against such lawsuits but they are not entitled to use every means including the invasion of privacy of the employees. Ethical issues The main ethical issues arising from consensual relationship agreements is the fact that they are intrusive to the employees’ privacy, and they, therefore, violate the privacy rules. According to Hansson and Palm (2005), the biggest problem with privacy at work is that there has not been a well developed definition of what this privacy is or how it should be handled. Having the employees sign a consensual relationship agreement is also forcing them to reveal their intimate feelings, and sometimes most people like their romance life to remain a secret between. Consensual relationship agreements assume that all romantic relationships need to be open and public, yet the reality is that most employees prefer to keep their relationships between themselves until they are sure whether they want to consummate their relationship. Having such a couple to sign a consensual relationship agreement will be forcing them to take a giant leap in their relationship before they are ready and, therefore, probably making it harder for the relationship to develop in a natural way and thus becoming successful. Secondly, consensual relationship agreements may also give the employer an opportunity to control personal relationships between individuals. When employees are forced to sign these agreements, they have to expose their relationships to the employer and the employer is able to know about all the relationships in the workplace. This may severe relationships between employees and employers because the employer is likely to interpret any poor performance by such employees as being caused by their relationship. At the same time, while consensual relationship agreements are meant to clear the air in the workplace so as to avoid feelings of favoritisms especially where the couple is a manager and his or her subordinate, it is more likely to actually work against this and make the workplace even less bearable. This is because if the employees sign a consensual relationship agreement, it will be clearer to the other employees that they are in a relationship, and this may cause the rest of employees to feel that the employees may be working together to sabotage the rest of the employees. At the same time, having the employees sign the contract will also expose their relationship to public criticism and sometimes even jealousy. Romantic relationships have the tendency to cause negative emotions especially where conflicts of interests exist. This is why most people prefer to keep their relationships private until such a time when they are ready to reveal them. The consensual relationship agreement may also serve as a platform for managers to harass their subordinates. For instance, if the manager has romantic feelings towards a certain employee and the employee decided to take another person instead, the employee will have no way to keep his or her relationship secret from the manager who was interested in her, and this may lead to harassment by the manager. Alternative to Consensual Relationship Agreements There are a number of alternatives to consensual relationship agreements that have the same impact. The best alternative, however, is developing clear anti-harassment policies that will help the workplace be a good working environment. The main purpose of consensual relationship agreements is to protect the employer from lawsuits from employees who would sue the firm for sexual harassment after their consensual relationship ends wrongly. This is a serious issue especially considering that 11 percent of workplace romances happen between a junior employee and their supervisors. According to Cohen (2009), the other way to avoid such lawsuits that are motivated by workplaces romances going bad is having clear no-harassment policies. According to two court judgments passed by two law courts in the United States, an employer is responsible for their employee’s actions and, therefore, if a supervisor sexually harasses an employee, the employer will be liable. However, as Cohen (2009) says, the employer may strip off this responsibility if he can prove that there are reasonable policies against harassment in his organization and that the person claiming to have been harassed failed to take advantage of these policies. Conclusion Workplace relationships can also pose a real significant problem both to the employer and the employees and, if not well managed, can lead to reduced productivity and unnecessary rivalry in the workplace. Research and studies show that workplace romances are almost inevitable and trying to inhibit them only increases the employees’ desire to engage in such relationships. There is no one particular method of dealing with this problem; however, it is essential to develop a model that will work for both employees and employers. Giving employees a free reign as to what kind of relationships they can have in the workplace but at the same time creating clear and easy policies to help avoid harassment can be a better option, as opposed to either preventing the employees from having romantic relationships or requiring them to sign love contracts. References Cohen, A. (2009). Office romance: Do you need a Workplace Dating Policy? Retrieved February 05, 2013, from HR Hero Line: www.hrhero.com/hl/articles/2009/10/01/office-romance-do-you-need-a-workplace-dating-policy-2/. Hansson, O., & Palm E. (2005). The ethics of workplace privacy. Bern: Peter Lang. Hellriegel, J. (2007). Individual and organizational. In J. Hellriegel (Ed.), Organizational behavior. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Read More