And most companies cut employees who date each other some slack. In fact, some employers justifiably fear that adopting an anti-dating policy could land them in court, too. Employees have a right to do just about anything they want to do on their own time, as long as it's legal and doesn't involve the use of company property. But workplace dating is a liability management problem, and that's how a growing number of employers see it. Witness the prominent law school which this month forced the resignation of a dean who violated an anti-nepotism policy which includes romantic relationships between individuals when one supervises the other.
Most employers have no written policy at all on workplace romance.
Others freely permit peers to date but allow managers to become romantically involved with subordinates only if they stop supervising them. And it is the manager who is expected to step forward and seek a transfer. But some employers are starting to move in a different direction. The employees are also obliged to sign on to the company's sexual harassment policy and agree to settle any dispute outside court. They may also prevent some employees from being trapped in power-driven relationships they don't really want.