Love contract or a regulatory tool..

Dating someone in your organisation is a very common scenario these days. Especially with the emergence of the so called "IT" work culture, employees are spending more and more time with their co-workers both in office and outside office. The environment provided by the employer is such that it encourages such relationships. But yet on the other hand such relationships are not desired by the employer. Or maybe on the inside even the employer wants such relationship as it may promote commitment towards the employer. And the Love Contract may be a simple tool to regulate such relationships.

IF we look at the Love contract carefully, the very first statement that both employees are entering into a romantic relationship is ambiguous. There is no such clear definition of a romantic relationship, these things are subjective and in most cases a line can't be drawn. Thus who has the authority to decide whether the relationship is romantic or not.

The second clause outlines that both employees agree that their relationship is by mutual consent and not a case of harassment. Employees agreeing to such a clause is way to inform the employer that their relationship is not that of harassment and a way to ensure the employer that they are not indulging in any practice which is in violation with the code of conduct. Same is with the next clause which states that such a relationship will not hamper their performance or reporting relationship. In my previous organisation, there was no love contract to be signed but the employer took some steps to ensure that the relationship did not hamper their performance. For example, the two employees who were dating were put in such positions such that they did not appear in each other's reporting hierarchy. From time to time a counselor used to talk to them on various personal and professional issues. Another evidence that the company used to encourage such relations at workplace was that if the person whom you are referring to for the job in your company is in a relationship with you either marital or romantic will be given higher preference.

The last clause says that if the employees do not adhere to the code of conduct, they may be subjected to disciplinary action. This is by default is a part of any employment contract and any employee who is signing the love contract must have agreed to the same clause in his employment contract. Thus it is not something that is very specific to a love contract.

Thus we can see that none of the clauses in the love contract oppose such a relationship. The only disadvantage with it is that you have to agree publicly that you are is a romantic relationship with one of your co-workers. This can be taken care of by classifying this as a private contract and thus should not be made known to the other employees. Otherwise it only ensures two things, First that the relationship is not that of harassment or utilitarian relationship. Second that due to this relationship the employees should not disobey the code of conduct which they should not in any case. And talking of the performance clause, the employer will eventually come to know of a decrease in performance, which may be due to any reason, and will be taking some action regarding it. It doesn't really matter if the performance decreased due to a romantic relationship within the office, the employer will take some action whatsoever.