Love Contracts in Indian Context

Some employers use love contract to ensure that their liabilities are minimized in case the love relationships of employees turn into sexual harassment cases. The validity of such love contracts in India could be viewed from the judgments of Indian Courts on cases of sexual harassment at work places.

In Apparel Export Promotion Council Vs AK Chopra case 1999, Supreme Court had upheld the dismissal of a senior male officer found guilty of harassing a subordinate female employee. The verdict of the case was based on the verdict of another case- Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan1997 which provides the guidelines to be adopted at all workplaces. Court viewed the harassment at work place as the violation of the constitutional rights. However, the guidelines provided by the apex court does not mention anything on "Consensual sexual relationship". Based on the details of the guidelines, experts opine that consensual sexual relationship between adults at workplaces is not illegal in India. Thus, contracts that forces employees to acknowledge such relationship in writing may stand void in an Indian Court. In case court finds the prescribed guidelines to be adopted at workplace were not followed, the companies can't disown the responsibility in the name of the contract.

I also do not see love contracts as a safeguard against nepotism as many factors other than love leads to personal preferences and nepotism. Nepotism is very common among people of same sex. So justifying love contracts as safeguard against nepotism holds no ground

In this context I feel any responsible organization must ensure to generate adequate awareness among employees related to the regulatory issues regarding workplace. If the organization has a sound policies of management conduct and workplace environment it must not worry to put everything into contract. The employees could get involved issues beyond love (cheating, forgery, bribe etc.) in absence a clear guideline and adequate awareness. It is not possible to have written agreement on each issue. So it is better to nurture an environment and culture of responsibility. De-linking the human elements and emotions from organizational life is not possible as long as people work in them. However, an employer needs to know which actions should be controlled and which not. That's what called managing. There are some responsibilities of being an employer. Employers need to own them instead of shredding away the responsibilities through contracts.

In the case of Intermediaries Technology Limited, I see a self-contradiction in the functioning of the organization. On one hand the company feels that Pritam is suitable to handle higher roles and responsibilities of Senior Manager on the other hand they feel Pritam could be too naive who could bring problems to the organization by dehumanizing acts; they expect him to be too idiotic to sign contracts without even reading them.

Love Contracts - A boon for employers...

As far as office romances are concerned, they are full of perils for employers. A reduction in productivity is like a tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ill-effects of amorous distraction. Accompanied with lapses in confidentiality; valid or unwarranted claims of sexual harassment when relationships go sour and possible violence on exposure of extra marital affairs, romantic or sexual behaviour amongst employees might create a havoc for employers when allowed a free ride.

In my opinion, prohibition is a very effective measure for curbing the power of such amorous dangers. It is the right of the employer or better put, his responsibility, to complement its existing policies with a well drafted mandate to handle such issues. Depending on the size of the employer and its geographic reach, policies like the ‘love contract’ mentioned in the case prohibits employees from getting engaged into sexual or romantic behaviour amongst themselves. Nevertheless, such counsels may still be discounted by employers for many reasons. Some may see it to be too harsh, invading privacy or have a feeling of gaucherie while administering the same. Still some others may welcome the additional enthusiasm and enhanced consistency of the love–struck employees who suddenly feel all the more excited to attend office and exhibit reluctance in going home at night. Irrespective of the reasons, the “love contract” acts as necessary legal protection.

The ‘Dating and relationship agreement’ that Pritam is asked to sign in the case, clearly specifies that they are in ‘voluntary relationship of mutual consent’. So, if the romance ends, the above clause would help the employer later in defending sexual harassment claims. Further, the agreement also requires the employees to maintain professional conduct including no public displays of their affection and sustain high levels of efficiency irrespective of their relationship which is in the best interest of the employer. It also protects the employer from any acts of nepotism, favouritism, etc. which otherwise are difficult to enforce even if the employees are found guilty. And lastly it gives the employer the rights to take disciplinary action in case of non-adherence to the agreement by the employees. So by administering such agreements employers can keep a check on the amorous activities amongst the employees and prevent them from destroying the organization culture and the business motive at large.

The truth about Love contracts..

“The movement of Progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from status to contract”
-Sir Henry Sumner Maine

As participants of progressive societies, uncertainties of any kind disquiet us. Perhaps, that’s the reason why we are increasingly becoming slaves of contracts that promise to reduce the anxiety of an unknown future. The environment in workplaces have changed dramatically, and with any new association with an organization, we are now inundated with clauses with jargons like non-compete, non-solicitation, non-authority, non-dealing, exclusive employment – an overkill of contracts!

For those of us who care to read the finer details, these contracts are an attempt to circumvent any possible situation that might be detrimental to the interests of the employer. Considering the fact that most companies have attorneys at their disposal, it is plain to see that these highly paid lawyers would use their imagination to the fullest to service the needs of their clients. One such apparently bizarre, but increasingly popular covenant is the “Love Contract”.

A love contract policy or consensual relationship agreement establishes workplace guidelines for dating or romantically involved coworkers. This policy is designed to limit the liability of an organization if the couple decides to end the romantic relationship. The issue here is not of an ethical nature and whether it is moral to have an extramarital affair in office; firms generally see this as a liability management problem. Specifically, companies are concerned about what impact this behavior will have on the company, and on other employees.

While workplace romances can create claims of nepotism and awkward situations for other employees, soured romances might be fraught with lawsuits and revenge motivated complains. Under such situations, the HR personnel need to tread a delicate path, and address the issues in a humane manner. They have to ensure that any undesirable behavior does not jeopardize other people’s professional careers. They also need to ensure that high ranking employees do not abuse their position of power to ensnare their subordinates into undesired relationships.

Most of us might brush off these contracts as ridiculous. After all, aren’t we all adults and capable of making mature decisions for ourselves?.Perhaps, writing down contracts to legitimize workplace romances is bad, but handling litigation and harassment claims in the future is even worse. This voluntary disclosure can be one step to ensure that no one takes advantage of others, and transparency is maintained in the workplace.

Some conventional benefits of this unconventional bargain:
• Can be useful if the company does not have an effective reporting and investigation policy
• Designed to solve the litigation issues if any one of the two parties decides to sue the other, or blame each other as a fallout of a soured relationship
• An acknowledgement of the relationship will make the two parties be more responsible, since they are aware that their activities are under the scrutiny of the employer
• Might be necessary for the company to ward off liabilities from harassment claims
• Dating employees agree to treat each professionally if the relationship ends, and breakups do not vitiate the office environment.
• Both employees would be aware of their liabilities and refrain from partisanship and conflicts of interest.

Organization: Machiavelli or a MatchMaker!!

The work place might or might not offer a wonderful ambience to work for, one might or might not like it or the job one is doing but one thing certainly can never be ruled out that irrespective of how loathsome the workplace is, one still ends up making friends (assuming one is not reticent beyond fathomable), at times even getting into relationships, sometimes frivolous, other times serious. If this be the case, then the question on what should be the role of the organization in governing one’s decisions, interactions specific to the relationship is worth finding an answer to.

The story in the discussion forum is a classic case of Catch 22 where the organization comes with an Odysseus like tactic in the form of an agreement wreaking havoc in the love birds’ nest. Organizations these days facilitate team building activities, interactions, information flow and social gatherings all in an attempt to bring employees to gel well amongst each other with the premise: well knit employees can propel it in the path of progress. While gelling in most cases is perfunctory, in some cases it beats the strongest of adhesives. It is not unnatural for two employees to fall for each other and getting carried away in the flow of emotions, breach the code of conduct in the workplace. While there is no denying that all organizations should have stringent business conduct guidelines in place and should enforce the guidelines in cases of its breach, creating an environment to foster camaraderie and then blaming two individuals for falling prey to the system might not be entirely justifiable. And this at a time when quite a few organizations are facilitating within the company marriages and even giving incentives for them makes the move look all the more anachronic. Are we missing something here? Is the organization trying to be the Match Maker?

Pritam has been a high achiever in his company and is almost on the verge of being promoted to the level of Sr. HR Manager. His close acquaintance with Jagruti, a software engineer was bound to have raised a few eyebrows in the workplace and the overt display of affection certainly did exacerbate affairs. Notwithstanding this fact, asking them to sign the agreement whereby they acknowledge their romantic relationship and take full responsibility of any misconduct directly or indirectly due to them being in the relationship is highly Machiavellian. It is an individual’s prerogative to declare or not declare what kind of relationship he/she is into and especially in a country like India where relationships before marriage are look down upon, openly declaring one’s romantic relationship can deem one as an outcast. The organization has every right to impose a breach of the conduct guidelines as and when it finds it necessary but creating a prisoner’s dilemma and forcing the employees to sign the agreement just because they are in a relationship can hardly be termed as playing the role of a Match Maker. This can be further substantiated by raising the following few questions:

If both the husband and wife work in the same organization, would they be asked to sign the same agreement or is it specifically for couples in romantic relationship?

If it is not meant for married couples because the entire world knows about their relationship status, does it mean that being married gives them the right to display their affection in the office and get away with it? I hardly think so. Hence the agreement loses its ground in this aspect. What holds true for both the parties (married couples/ unmarried couples) is the basic conduct guidelines irrespective of their marital status for which the organization does not need an exclusive agreement to be signed.

If nepotism, favoritism, corruption were really the matter of concerns, then would the company make use of the agreement when it spots two employees being best of friends with one of them being in a high position of authority? Once again the argument in favor of the agreement loses its ground.

The agreement does not make sense merely to be enforced for inhibiting romantic relationships in the workplace. Simply because the very reasons (nepotism, favoritism, corruption, sexual harassment, etc) why the agreement is supposed to be signed is not just confined to romantic relationships. These so called PYAR KE SIDE EFFECTS can occur in many other relationships which might or might not be carrying a definitive name. Can the organization spend its valuable time and resources to curtail all such possible relationships?

Love thy Work(ers)

In the earlier posts we were seeing the different perspectives of Love contract.
In the case mentioned, 3 different approaches can be followed,
1. Summary Discharge policy
2. Non-fraternization policy
3. Love contracts

Summary Discharge policy says that if any manager enters into romantic relationship with subordinate will be summarily discharged. However, it seriously affects the morale of employees.
Non-fraternization policy prohibits romantic relationship among the employees and the consequence is generally transfer or reassignment of work. This is very difficult in today's world considering that employees tend to spend long hours in workplace and could develop relationships.
Hence, Love contract offers a middle path maintaining a balance between the aspirations of the employers and behavior of the employees. The Love contract is mutual consensual agreement between the employees enabling a restrictive behavior of the persons involved in sexual relationship.

Something is better than nothing
As Sushma pointed out, the Love contracts does NOT make the organization free from litigations but it definitely gives a solid defence in case any litigation is failed.

Relationship management in India
It was earlier mentioned that TCS, CSC and Max NewYork Life follow Love contracts. In fact, TCS had been paying Rs. 1 lakh for a couple and Infosys was offering a car for the newly wedded couples. While there are reports that some companies like NIIT go on extreme levels like offering "dating allowance" which is not acceptable on different grounds

A Win-Win Situation
From the employers' perspective, the contract helps in defending that there was no forced relationships and that the performance of the employees would not go down in case the relationship fails.
From the employees' perspective, the contract helps in constantly reminding them about their commitment to work and to the spouses(in case of married employees!). It also reminds them of appropriate behavior in workplace.
Like Varun mentioned, there is loss of privacy by signing this contract and there are also cases where one person may not sign the contract. But still Love contract holds good in managing workplace relationships considering all the above points mentioned.

Just a different perspective....

I don’t see any action in this world, for which everyone will have exactly the same opinion. In the end it’s all about individual perception. When I first read about Love contract, I found it totally ridiculous. Then I read my friends’ opinion about it. Most of them accepted the fact that such contracts are not of much significance. Then I decided to change my perception and thought about it from an employer’s perspective and I found certain aspects of the contract really interesting.

As it has been said earlier that with the amount of time an employee spends in an office, it’s very much possible for a person to have a relationship with his/her colleague and employer have every reason to feel concerned about it. It’s very much evident that such contracts are there to ward off the complaints like that of favoritism or problems like sexual harassment claims and revenge-motivated complaints in case of a breakup.

And if employer wants to avoid any such situation then what’s the harm. It’s always said that precaution is better than the cure and employer has every right to be cautious. In this world of high professionalism employees can go to any extent for their personal interest and it might hamper the image of an employer. People do feel that through this contract employer is trying to interfere in the private life of the employees. But actually it’s the opposite. Through this contract employer is making sure that you will keep your professional life away from private life. This way they are not discouraging anyone to go for romantic relationships within the company, they are just making sure that you will show utmost commitment towards your work and won’t allow any personal factor to come in between you and your work.

I belong to that category of people who says that “Love happens just like that”. So I never feel that person will look at company's Manual of Policies before indulging in any workplace relationship. But such sort of contract does help in discouraging people who indulge in such activities just for their personal gains.

Anything that Can go wrong Will go wrong

"Leave me no loose ends and I shall not tie you down.." Often that's the policy the management follows today. Companies don't wish to be liable for any loose ends to speak of; anything that might implicate their credibility as an employer to the outside world. As long as the matter remains internal and resolvable; the management will fight tooth and nail to achieve a result to that end, like that elaborated by Pritam Singh's case.

Coming to this case in particular, the situation depicts a nascent romantic relationship between Pritam and Jagruti being brought to an abrupt halt by the intervention of higher management in a way which could be described as 'cowardly' at best. The GM (HR) having forseen their relationship as one likely to grow a lot more intense with time, attempts to trick Pritam into signing the love contract thereby providing the HR department the leverage to sack Jagruti right away. They fear a relationship of this sort, if gone awry can be disastrous to both the employees as well as employer; in a way pointed out by participants before me. (female can bring a sexual harassment lawsuit into the company, thereby tarnishing its reputation) Further as it lays out norms for acceptable romantic behaviour at the work place, the firm can use some past occurrence as a premise for invoking this contract's terms,thereby dismissing one or both of them for having previously violated these terms. (as is the case here)

So let's understand why do firms hold such a negative view of work place romances? One obvious explanation is a possible drop in productivity due to loss of focus from the core aspects of one's job. But there is also a probability of rise in productivity or yield if the romance flourishes and renders both parties in a happy state. Happiness we hear, is what we as humans ultimately desire. If one is even within striking distance of attaining happiness, their drive is observed to intensify many-fold. So visualizing a romance that is conducive to enhanced performance is not an altogether Utopian phenomenon. But one may argue this is an optimist's view. The case may be totally opposite in so many more ways. After all, as per Murphy's law, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Thus, we must pay heed to the both sides of the coin.

As Chinmoy rightly pointed out before, accusations of favoritism, jealousy etc. may all ultimately lead to reduced performance or indulgence in internal politics. And the worst that can happen is probably, the male ego assuming center stage and the consequent commitment of a wildly blunderous act of machismo, thereby worsening status and esteem further.

But all this is subjective talk. The million and one emotions that the employee may go through are none of the employer's concern. He is concerned only with his output and consequences of his behavior at the work place. In order to ensure both, the invocation of the love contract is taken as a rational enough approach by the firms.

And from the employee's perspective; he has to maintain that expected level of decorum at the work place. After all, the firm is not responsible for your upsurging hormones or associated emotions. It is in no way liable for whatever fruit or poison your conduct with regard to the relationship bears. So it has to build for itself, certain safeguards, among some of which is the very contract in debate. Though it may seem over the top and irrational on the face of it, the firm has to ensure proper decorum in the work place, while upholding its status as an employer and the use of the love contract seems a fair enough bargain. Though there may be several arguments to this, it is one of the safest ways out!

If in Love…Sign the Love Contract

Workplace romance is becoming more and more visible with the gender ratio improving across industries. As per the HR professionals, workplace romance has seen a marked increase as the number of hours that employees are spending at office has increased and they end up sharing interests, values and hobbies.
Being involved in a relationship at workplace doesn’t necessarily imply that the performance of the employee will suffer. It can lead to better energy levels, increased morale and translate into better discharge of services. TCS had a policy where it would give a sum of Rs. 50000 to a couple that got married and both of them were on the payroll of TCS.
However, as the number of cases of workplace romance increased the failures and reported cases of sexual harassment also increased. The firms were well aware that they cannot stop employees from getting involved. The ‘Love Contract’ was then conceived. This is to confirm that the involvement is voluntary and both are well versed with the sexual harassment policies.
Why is signing the contract a problem?
When the mutual trust and understanding is substantial enough to mature into love that is visible to the public, what is that stops the couple from signing the contract. If in case of problems in future, they have no right to involve the company in their mess. It is not that they were forced to be with each other by the HR. Then why involve the organization to wash your dirty linen when things go sour. If there is an instance of sexual harassment, this could have happened with any other partner whom you were dating. Only when someone is taking undue advantage of you solely because he or she is able to or subjecting you to sexual harassment, the company is a part of the issue. But, when you are a party to the relationship, whether the romance is in office or outside office, the vulnerabilities are no different. Are you trying to use the firm as a tool to use in fighting your bad relationships?
Why should a company insist on a love contract?
Apart from unwarranted sexual harassment litigation, companies also suffer from breach of confidentiality, poor quality of work when problems mushroom between the couple, unproductive work hours and long hours in the cafeteria discussing family and money and what not.
Some of the issues that must be addressed in the love contract must include no direct reporting, the employment at-will if the contract is not adhered to, and standards of behavior at workplace.
It is required that the contract is well crafted as it may face problems like non-disclosure of relationships between same sex couples, or going as far as claiming that the employee was forced to sign the contract when he or she had a critical issue like on site opportunity or promotion in the pipeline.

Romancing Professionally

One of the basic building blocks of good working culture is interactions between employees. But when this interaction is between opposite sexes, more than often it is termed as “romance”. On one hand company wants to promote interactions and on other it wants to limit it to an professionally accepted level, which is difficult to define and measure.

One of the major reasons for rise in office relationship can be attributed to increasing working pressure, resulting in blurring line between work and personal life .As culture of working couple is on rise, they are getting lesser and lesser time to spend together. So looking for better halves at workplace is on rise.

Organization are increasingly getting vary of these relationships as it can be linked to performance of employees to an extent. But all office romances are not dangerous for the health of organizations. Organizations should basically watch out for hierarchical romances and utilitarian romance. In the hierarchical romance the persons involved are direct in reporting structure and any romantic relationship can cause favouritism .In Utilitarian romance, the main aim of the romance is to achieve a purpose, usually to earn mileage in one’s career. This type of romance has high potential for converting into sex scandals in an organisation.

But in spite of all these, organisations should be ever committed to provide workers with right kind of environment. Love contract is definitely not one of the options because it restricts the freedom of interactions. These types of contracts can only induce the feeling of guilty for persons involved.

Clear policies regarding office relationships and right kind of orientation at the time of joining is must for success of defining the right kind of attitude in the work place. Policy can go to as far as defining appropriate and inappropriate behaviours like public display of affection. The policy should not only be crystal clear but also communicated effectively.

Relationships are inevitable

Relationships are inevitable in the workplace. There can be two kinds of relationships in the workplace. One between the supervisor and subordinate and other between the co-workers. Out of these two kinds, the relationship between the supervisor and the subordinate requires immediate attention of the employer. This kind of romantic relationship is observed between Mr. Pritam (HR manager) and Jagruti Patel (Senior Software Engineer). Such a relationship is a cause of concern for the employer. The subordinate may benefit from this relationship as in she may get good appraisal rating or promotion just because of her romantic relationship with the supervisor. This will cause anger and resentment among other employees who are working day in and day out to get high ratings and promotion. These relationships become even more dangerous for the firm if they end abruptly. The Supervisor may start giving bad ratings to the subordinate and the subordinate can claim that she was getting good ratings when they were in relationship and now that the relationship has ended, he is giving bad reviews.

I think the contracts are not the solution to these kinds of issues. Such contracts send the wrong message to the employees that the company is trying to interfere in their personal life. Employer should handle these issues with extreme care. Handling these issues with anxiety may cause anger and resentment among the entire workforce. Employer should arrange a meeting with both the employees and tell them that they should avoid showing off their emotions in the workplace as these are not in the best interest of the firm. Most of time, this step will work. Even after making them aware of the consequences, if the two employees continue to show their emotions in workplace, the employer should end their professional reporting relationship by transferring one of the employees to another office or by assigning different project in the same location.

Love Contract... is it required?

If Pritam does not sign the contract Jagruti will be fired from the company. But it is interesting to analyse what will happen if Pritam signs the contract. Is this Love contract an alternative to sexual harassment policies of the company? Definitely Intermediary Technologies Ltd is in advantage. Because in case of any sexual harassment one of the party cannot move to the court or will think twice before adopting the law route because of this Love Contract. So the image of the company will not be tarnished. One more advantage will be that Pritam cannot do any favouritism towards Jagruti. But I doubt if in case of any sexual harassment if a party decides to go to the court, will the court turn down the request because of this love contract. Moreover the party can claim that they signed the agreement under pressure from the employer at a sensitive time. One more interesting case would have been if Pritam or Jagruti anyone would have been married or may be both married (Not to each other), will in this case Intermediate technologies would have forced them to sign the contract. And in case of India where same sex is yet to be legalized what route the company would have taken if in case Jagruti was a boy? Would Pritam and Jagruti (both males) would have been asked to sign the contract and to what extent Indian law would have recognized the contract.
In my opinion love contract is not an apt solution to the problem, rather a strong anti harassing policy combined with an effective reporting and investigation policy will solve the cause. The employees should be trained regularly in this matter. Even if someone dates his/her subordinate proper rules must be made that they are not in a same project or anyway related project. If we look at Infosys this policy has been there since their inception and no one can forget even a board of director was fired under harassment of a female employee. So a love contract may give headaches to the HR but the above mentioned policies and their proper implementation can solve the problem to a greater extent.

Before we hook up, please sign this...

The love contract is a required document signed by the two employees in a consensual dating relationship that declares that the relationship is by consent.

More and more companies are insisting that office paramours sign "love contracts" in an effort to stem sexual harassment suits. Though not legally required, love contracts often can be a helpful way to avoid a claim when good loving goes bad.

Love contracts have been commonly used to follow the principle of “best person for the job” which is often violated due to sexual favoritism. Sexual favoritism is a relatively new term of art that refers to a situation in which an employee, often a female, receives promotions, awards, or other preferential treatment by an employer, typically a male, with whom the employee is involved in a sexual relationship.

These contracts are generally the rights between the two workers involved. However, a recent decision in California (Miller vs. the Department of Corrections) suggested that other workers might be able to sue.

Tanenbaum, who has written more than 100 love contracts for companies ranging from Fortune 500 firms to mom and pops, says he has seen a steady increase over the past decade. He usually receives a run of phone calls from skittish managers whenever a high-profile sexual harassment case hits the news. Even the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal was good for business.

However, many believe that the very label "love contract" is an oxymoron. For instance, Greg Godek, author of the best-selling book "1001 Ways to Be Romantic" said that "It’s a total abuse of the word 'love,' it's a cover-your- butt contract."

However, if signing love contract is mandatory by the employer, the question is:

In the typical progression of a relationship -- from establishing exclusivity to meeting family to saying "I love you" -- where exactly does "We must sign this legal document so we can protect our company in case I freak out and make your life a living hell" fit in?

Does it HAVE to be THAT bad??

Traditionally, organizations have frowned upon in-house romantic relationships and marriages. Some, like Max New York Life Insurance, do not even allow two members of the same family to work together, claiming that if one is in a senior position and the other somewhat junior, it could affect promotions and progress of the latter. Also, this could affect the professionalism and the inter-department secrecy that some organizations stress a lot upon.

Take the case of Pritam and Jagruti for instance. Intermediaries Technologies Ltd seems to so obviously frown upon whatever it is that is between them. It seems to me like they are merely interested in each other. Whether they have moved so far as to openly acknowledge a romantic relationship between the two of them remains another question. Either way, the GM seems either totally convinced that this is going to hamper their professional relationship or he is just trying to find a newer and better way to exploit employees. I am inclined to think the latter seems a more plausible explanation. But does it have to be so bad?

In-house romantic relationships do not necessarily have to hamper professional relationships. Leave alone hampering the relationship, these days there are plenty of IT firms which seem to encourage in-house romantic relationships. According to Shoba Murthy, Head of Corporate Communication, TCS, "There is so much more mutual support and understanding when a couple is working in the same organisation and understands the other's deadline and delivery pressures". Also, there is a greater probability of the couple staying in the company. Also, I feel that when couples work together, they get to spend more time together (in today's high pressure environment where a couple, either romantically involved or married don't get time to speak for days). This increases employee satisfaction and the employer might be likely to get better quality work in the end. Looks like there could be a positive side to this, doesn't it?

Companies like CSC are actually encouraging their employees to settle down with each other. The HR department of CSC is looking to send out a message that CSC is one big happy family! Also, companies like Wipro and TCS are posting matrimonial ads within their organization, for employees and friends of employees. This only promotes a greater sense of trust between the employer and employee.

Of course, there is a down side to this too. Couples working together might tend to bring household squabbles to the work place. We cannot rule this out, But we have to say something here about the sense of professionalism an organization instills in its employees, This should actually give a healthy and improved work environment for all.

In the end, as long as the performance f the employees concerned does not go down, I do not see why an organization has to poke its nose into such affairs. It could be happily-ever-after for all concerned, after all!!

Love Contract : A way to hide weak HR policies

When I was working for Computer Science Corporation (CSC) in Hyderabad, I had my team leader Mr Kishore Nair. He was married to Mrs. Sapna Nair who was also working for CSC but in a different team. As per the policy, CSC had no issues with their marriage as long as they were working for different teams. And the only reason why they were required to work for two different teams was in case they decided to take leave together for any family function or any other reason; it would not impact the team much. Recently when Mr Nair had to go to US for a project for 1 year, the company gave the same opportunity to Mrs Nair to go to US but on Indian salary. These type of flexible and employee friendly policies make sure that the company does not need a “love contract” to control the behaviour of the employees.

Sense and Sensibilities

The situation highlighted in this forum is a historically common phenomenon. Studies have clearly shown that romantic liaisons between employees have been on an increase over the past few years. Such a trend is rightly being attributed to the long hours which people spend at work in this competitive world. It makes for a situation in which those with whom we work are not just restricted to being our colleagues but our primary source of social contact. It is therefore but natural that romantic relationships start developing.

There was a time, not so long ago, when such relationships were better kept under cover. Though not taboo they could be a major cause of awkwardness and embarrassment for the involved parties. However, with changing times, the stigma associated with office romance has slowly lost out on its steam. The new corporate culture has blurred the lines between work and personal lives.

However, for businesses, office romances do have the potential to complicate the work environment in a lot of ways. It could be one of the primary causes of loss of individual productivity due to distraction, jealousy among co-workers and accusations of favouritism. A relationship gone sour could leave a really bad taste and the repercussions are bound to show on work. It could also antagonize the involved individuals against each other which is definitely not in the interest of the firm. And the worst fear that could come true for a company is the charges of sexual harassment against an employee which is a distant though a possible outcome.

I would like to point out the fact that any of the above mentioned issues could creep in due to the way an employee leads his life beyond his working hours as well. The loss in productivity could be attributed to a personal crisis or relationship with someone outside the circle of colleagues. It is after all an individual and their way of living which shall be most important determinant of behaviour at work place. However, it is to some extent justified on the employer’s part to be genuinely concerned about the issue of dating colleagues.

So, the question we are faced with is how should it be dealt with? Is making couples sign contracts the only solution? For that matter, is it a solution at all?

I have worked in an organization which had a policy of rewarding its employees those who married their colleagues. The fact that I would have been one among those who would have been rewarded is a different issue all together. What is important is that we do have organizations which have evolved a much better approach towards the situation. For instance, I would like to believe that the incentive associated with establishing a meaningful relationship would have been hugely responsible for couples to progress from dating to the next level. Keeping with a similar view, a company could definitely come up with a middle path to handle such situations.

Also, one should not take a lop-sided view by only looking at the pitfalls associated with a relationship in office. The benefit of happily partnered employees is also a possible outcome. This world has witnessed a lot of such examples like that of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy. It is true that the apprehension is always about the negative aspects of office romances. At the same time, it is equally accepted that a work place romance might result in a perfectly happy relationship. Therefore any policies implemented should be clear and specific about what exactly they prohibit.

The Do’s and Don’ts should be clearly stated without leaving scope for any ambiguity. Setting these ground rules is the first step. An open policy should be advocated. Employees should be requested to disclose a relationship if it becomes romantic. It is but imperative, that to encourage such an environment, the company rather than imposing penalties and contracts is willing to work with them. Instead of making employees forcibly sign a contract, it would be good idea for the higher management to talk to the involved couples and pre-empt the potential problems. Policies on sexual harassment should have been rolled out for all employees from the time of joining the organization as a part of the employment contract. Relationship or not, instances of sexual misconduct have become common place these days and it is the best interest of a company that it saves itself from such embarrassment. The company should show respect for an individual’s privacy making sure not to overstep it. What needs to be made clear is that integrity and performance at work place are of primary concern.

Love Contract...

Pritam Singh received a call from the GM HR of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd for an urgent meeting with him in his chamber. While he was rushing to the office of GM (HR), he squeezed his brain to get the reason for this meeting. Am I going to be fired? Or is it that the long standing promotion is to be announced leading to an onsite opportunity? Unable to decide, he knocked the door of GM(HR) looking through glass pane.

He noticed that somebody was sitting facing the GM(HR). It did not take much time for him to figure out that it was Jagruti. Before he could knock the door, the GM said, “Come in, Pritam… We are waiting for you…” He did not know as how to start the conversation. He mumbled, “Sir, you wanted to meet me, I suppose…”

“Yes Pritam, take your seat. In fact, I wanted to meet both of you. That’s why I called you”

Pritam took the corner seat so as to avoid sitting in the middle seat next to Jagruti. He was unable to decode the purpose of the meeting and looked at Jagruti for answers. But Jagruti was indifferent to his visit and looking at the portrait hanging on the wall.

GM HR looked into his eyes and asked, “Pritam, how long you have been with Intermediaries Technologies?”

“Six years Sir…”

“I hope you are aware that your name is being considered for Senior Manager HR for our Detroit Office?”

“Yes Sir, I heard from my boss…”

“You really want to be promoted?”

Pritam did not know as how to answer.

“Why Sir? Is there any problem?”

GM(HR) did not answer his question but went ahead and said, “if you really want to be promoted, you will have to sign this agreement. Jagruti has already signed it.”

Pritam was bewildered after hearing this statement. He was speechless. As a HR Manager, Pritam had administered many contracts for various employees and got their signature. But he never came across a situation, where two employees were asked to sign on the same agreement.

Pritam asked meekly, “What is this agreement Sir?”

GM(HR) said, “I prefer that you sign the agreement first and read it at your leisure. It’s self explanatory. Or later you can get to know from Jagruti.”

Pritam said, “But Sir, I want to know first as what is there in the agreement before signing it.”

Jagruti was looking into his eyes and sensing from her facial cues, Pritam felt as if she was signaling him to sign the agreement. He could not understand as what was going on.

He said, “Sir, Sorry for questioning you. But I really don’t know what is happening. I feel like you are up for a mind game. If could explain me as what the problem is, we could discuss and resolve. I really don’t know as how my promotion and signing this agreement are related.”

GM (HR) looked at him with a fire in his eyes and said, “So, you don’t want to sign the agreement. Well. Then, we have only one choice left with us.”

Pritam asked, “What is it, Sir?”

“One of you have to resign from Intermediaries Technologies. I prefer Jagruti puts down her paper before Six O’ Clock.”

When he said this, Pritam could see that tears welling up in her eyes and rolled down on the cheeks of Jagruti. He could now understand as why Jagruti was all along silent and could somehow guess the reason for the meeting.

Pritam as a part of HR team has always enjoyed the fun of recruiting people especially the young college graduates. The recruitment team members, including male and female colleagues, always used to comment looking at the photographs of prospective recruits and derive immense happiness about discussing the characteristics of the candidates turned up for interviews.

Two years back, Pritam recruited Jagruti as a senior software engineer and the day he interviewed her along with his colleagues, he felt a kind of rare intimacy with her which he never felt with anybody during his career spanning almost 8 years in field of HR in his previous organization and also here in Intermediaries Technologies. He felt that there was something special with her.

The subsequent interaction with her while facilitating her placement within the organization as a HR manager and during various other occasions, Pritam found that both of them tried to engage in “sweet nothings” sort of conversations. They slowly started exchanging sms, talked over mobile for long hours, bought expensive gifts for birthdays, and hugged each other during office parties shedding inhibitions.

Now sitting in the office of GM(HR), Pritam realized that this meeting was about their personal relationship and could not understand as why the GM(HR) should poke his nose into their affair. Moreover, he wanted to know as what was written in the agreement and why did Jagruti sign the agreement without consulting him.

In an act of jiffy, he picked up the agreement and started glancing through the page. The GM(HR) raised his voice to protest his move, “Pritam, do you know what you are doing?”

Pritam replied, “Wait a minute, Sir. I am not doing any crime. I am just reading to decide whether to sign it or not” and continued to read the agreement. It read,

Dating and Relationship Agreement

We i.e., Pritam Singh (HR Manager) and Jagruti Patel (Senior Software Engineer) employees of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd., hereby acknowledge that we have entered into a romantic relationship.

We understand that Intermediaries Technologies Ltd is an equal opportunity employer committed to a discrimination and / or harassment free workplace. By signing this “Dating and Relationship Agreement” we declare openly and explicitly that ours is a voluntary relationship of mutual consensus and we both of us guarantee that our relationship would not in any slightest possible way affect our performance in our jobs directly or indirectly and promise to avoid any romantic and / or sexual behavior within the organization.

We also assure the management that in no way our reporting relationship would be influenced by personal romantic relationship and we would always strive hard to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd avoiding any possible misunderstanding, moral, ethical, and social problems such as favoritism, nepotism, corruption, sexual harassment etc.,

In case, the management of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd concludes that we fail to adhere to the company code of conduct for employees due to this personal romantic relationship, we understand that it is appropriate and legitimate for the management of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd to take disciplinary action against both of us and discharge either of us or both of us from the services of Intermediaries Technologies Ltd.

………………..

………………………………………….

……………………………………………………….

Signaure: ________________________ (Pritam Sing, HR Manager)

Signature: ________________________ (Jagruti Patel, Senior Software Engineer)