Which of the following best describe why non-fraternization policies are important?

It is not uncommon for employees who work closely together for long periods to become friendlier outside the workplace. After all, many people have met their spouses through work. Bonds are formed between people who find out that they share interests and similar lifestyles through conversation. Because of this, romantic relationships can develop.

However, certain romantic relationships between employees can be disastrous, especially if the relationship is between two employees who are not on the same level. For instance, a relationship could develop between a manager and a subordinate. Many issues arise that could affect the business and even the rest of the staff. Although employees who get along are great for the company's morale, don't you think there must be boundaries and limits to maintain order and a balanced overall "good vibe" culture?

This article will help you understand why you need fraternization policies to improve the company's culture. Creating a fraternization policy is more complicated than simply saying, "no dating in the workplace."

Having a friendlier culture is essential, but when the relationship between two employees grows personal, it could disturb the workforce and decrease productivity. Nevertheless, if the relationship between a manager and a subordinate continues to grow, you could expect a delay in tasks and an unbalanced workload within the team.

Also, if the relationship falls apart, it can affect company culture, and the concerned employees' behavior can stress other co-workers, especially when the couple starts fighting in the workplace. These employees can go ahead and file a lawsuit or sexual harassment case in some cases.

This can jeopardize your entire business, and other employees might feel uncomfortable and lose job satisfaction. To act in the company's best interests, we think every organization should have a fraternization policy to set truthful expectations.

A fraternization policy creates a limitation between co-workers' professional and personal life. The policy sets boundaries within the workplace and allows employees to conduct themselves to respect peers. To create a better workplace, management should have good policies. 

Standard acceptable and unacceptable behavior between employees:

Acceptable behavior:

• Appreciating peers and following up on their work, and creating a stress-free environment

• Creating a social bonding at the workplace like having lunch together or sharing common transportation

• Connecting with peers to share project details

• Maintaining consent of the relationship.

Unacceptable behavior:

• No physical contact that feels inappropriate

• Avoiding other staff

• Diverting tasks to other subordinates

• Avoiding personal communication that can disturb other employees

• Spreading rumours and gossiping about personal relationships.

To address these issues and prevent unnecessary actions, we help our clients revise their employee handbook and add a proper fraternization policy. This helps protect employee rights while allowing your business to retain good employees and maintain productivity.

You can expect employees to follow acceptable workplace behavior with a fraternization policy. This applies to all levels of employees, from CEOs to janitors.

Inclusion in the policy

• Start with what is a fraternization policy

• Importance of the policy

• What management expects from employees

• Explain boundaries and lay out the consequences

• Set rules and regulations for personal bonding

• Explain the risk of an unprofessional work relationship

• Define acceptable relationships and behaviors

• State the process of reporting and appropriate actions

• Describe the consequences of manager and subordinate dating

The points mentioned above can help you create a better policy and provide proper training to your employees. Our expertise helps our clients to build better relationships and a better workplace.

PS. At Vieras, we provide human resource services that include on-boarding, off-boarding, employee handbooks, payroll management and performance management. We have designed our services to help your business grow faster in the competitive market.

Do you think you need a fraternization policy for your workplace? Many employers avoid a fraternization policy (also referred to as a dating policy, workplace romance policy, or a non-fraternization policy) because they believe an employee's private life should be kept private. Here's the problem with this notion.

Employees need some direction about what is acceptable workplace behavior. Workers don't want to unknowingly cross a boundary line that results in injuring their work status and career. Savvy employees understand that some policies in their workplace are unwritten, but all employees are entitled to understand workplace norms.

Beyond the employee, a fraternization policy is even more significant for the employer. Employees need to be informed as to what behavior is deemed inappropriate so they can be trained accordingly. This needs to take place in advance of you taking action to deal with an adverse situation that affects your workplace.

Private Versus Public Relationships

You might think that employee friendships and romantic relationships only affect the private lives of those involved. If you believe this, you are wrong. A dating relationship, especially one that goes awry, can have a very damaging effect on other employees and disrupt workplace harmony.

Workplace horror stories abound of dating couples screaming at each other, arguing in the middle of the break room, and throwing staplers at each other.

Managers Who Date Employees

Managers who are dating or romantically involved with a subordinate is never a good idea. It's not good for the company, the manager, the employee, or the employee's coworkers. It's bad news all around. And this holds for employees who date managers in another department. The relationship, or frequently former relationship, limits how you as a manager can promote, or utilize the talents of, a subordinate. Either sparks of favoritism will fly, or you'll go the other direction and purposely not promote an employee who deserves it to avoid showing favoritism.

Also, consider for a moment how it would look during a discrimination lawsuit if you fired an employee who you had an affair with. There's also the matter of having to deal with a sexual harassment suit for an affair that began as a consensual relationship but spirals down to a question of non-consent.

One California court even decided that a boss-reporting staff member relationship amounted to sexual harassment for the employee's coworkers.

Beyond the Law, Dating at Work Complicates Things

Beyond the issue of two consenting single adults, there is also the issue of extramarital affairs in the workplace. These situations can have a severely negative impact on the affected family members, disapproving coworkers, and the discomfort that inevitably ensues at employee gatherings and events.

These are the big-ticket issues, and they do not even take into consideration the day-to-day nonsense of stolen kisses, giggling in meetings, inappropriate touching, and time wasted instant messaging romantic emojis. 

It's merely common sense and good business to implement a specific, employee-friendly, fraternization policy that spells out the limits and parameters in today's workplace. A good fraternization policy is key to workplace harmony and will honor the rights of both employees and employers. 

Which of the following best describes the importance of studying ethics to avoid acting unethically in a therapeutic relationship because?

Which of the following best describes why evaluating dual relationships is a major concern?

Which of the following is the most appropriate expression a practitioner can make in establishing intimacy with a client?

Which of the following describes the difference between a boundary crossing and a boundary violation?