Alasdair Hobbs, employment partner at Excello Law, wrote an article for The HR Director explaining how businesses and organisations can manage workplace relationships and strike the balance between safeguarding the company’s integrity and respecting employees’ rights to privacy and respect.
The article cites two recent examples – the removal of former BP CEO Bernard Looney and recently dismissed Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe – of multinational companies facing a wave of unflattering headlines as a result of a workplace relationship which had not been disclosed. When such relationships do become known within (or beyond) the organisation, difficult questions will always follow. This is especially true if there was a power imbalance between the employees in question.
“When workplace relationships are left unmanaged, the consequences are rarely confined to the individuals directly involved,” Alasdair notes. “They spill over into organisational culture, governance credibility and public trust.”
What should HR do to manage workplace relationships?
Unmanaged workplace relationships pose serious legal and commercial risks. They can lead to claims of harassment, discrimination and conflicts of interest, while also fostering perceptions of favouritism within an organisation. A ‘secret relationship’ rarely stays secret forever and can result in damaging leaks beyond the nature of the relationship itself.
As Alasdair explains in the article, the priorities for HR should be to:
- establish a clear policy around workplace relationships;
- make sure that policy is understood by all employees;
- require disclosure of relationships, in particular where supervision or confidentiality is a concern; and
- set out consequences for breach of the policy.
The article also explains how HR should manage concerns, including by adjusting reporting lines or adding oversight where needed. All actions should be well-documented and justified to ensure fairness, while avoiding moral judgment. Relationships only become problematic when they pose risks or compromise fairness; HR interventions should be proportionate and based on legitimate business concerns.
Crisis management
“HR leaders and senior managers should seek legal advice as soon as a potential conflict of interest or policy breach is suspected – especially where a relationship involves a reporting line, has not been disclosed or is the subject of a complaint,” Alasdair explains.
Our Employment team has extensive experience in handling disciplinary procedures, discrimination claims and whistleblowing. Having acted for both employees and organisations in disputes, our lawyers have a comprehensive understanding of the employment law issues involved in the fallout from a workplace relationship.
