Consensual Relationship Agreements

Consensual Relationship Agreements

Asya Hassan

BUS520

Dr.Pionke

04.22.2012

This paper will examine the concerns of workplace relationships and romance. In order for any organization to work effectively there must be rules and policies in places for the organization to succeed successfully. Within my current work environment at Milt Corp REO and Preservation, they have established a consensual relationship agreement. In the agreement it addresses the concerns of any sexual, unwanted, or harassments towards any employee. Within this text there will also be an example of why my current work place implemented a consensual relationship agreement.

The use of Consensual Relationships Agreements (CRAs) in my current workplace is used to create boundaries and legally bind the employees to behave in a professional manner. A CRA is essentially a written "contract" in which the romantically involved parties acknowledge the rules of the agreement. Therefore, both parties agree to abide by the employers antidiscrimination, anti-harassment, and workplace conduct policies. Consensual Relationship Agreements are common among many corporations addressing workplace romance. Some companies find the policy as being beneficial and others find it to be harmful to the dynamics of workplace productivity

CRAs are more often a waste of time and are more intrusive then helpful. The workplace is for work not romance and if a relationship does come about it should be kept separate and should not affect professional relationships. "Employers cannot control human nature, so a workplace romance policy is unenforceable. And if you establish one, it sends a negative message to employees about your company's willingness to impose itself into their personal lives." businessweek.com (2010). There are several benefits that CRAs provide in today's workplace and not all companies have this type of policy in place but they are valuable to productivity. When companies don't have this type of agreement it causes a loss of productivity, job security, and puts employers and coworkers on the edge.

"Seventy-two percent of companies had no policy regarding workplace romance, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Workplace Romance Poll." Hellrigel&Slocum (2011). The Consensual Relationship Agreement also protects the employer and employees in sexual harassment claims, by providing documented proof of consensual interaction signed between both parties. A majority of companies have policies against supervisors and managers engaging in relationships with subordinates to keep from having issues of favoritism.

From my prospective as an employee, I wouldn't want to sign an agreement based on my personal relationship with a co-worker. I would want to keep it private. If signing the CRA then my superiors and co-workers would think I may would to want engage in a personal relationship with one of my coworkers. So therefore they would keep extra eyes on me to insure that I wasn't breaking the policy. This type of agreement distracts employees from performing their jobs to best of their abilities. Even though employees spend a lot of time at work, not all of their time is spent at the organization. "In today's fast paced society women and men spend nearly forty percent of their week in the workplace. Due to the time spent working together; many workers generate a common interest in one another, therefore leading to workplace romance." KelloggForum.org (2011)

CRAs can be unsuccessful because even after signing an employee could still break it without the company noticing, and when it gets to that point they become pointless. Therefore, many consider these agreements a feasible method in handling office romance as it provides protection to the organization from possible lawsuit. Many people feel that the Consensual Relationship Agreement is intrusive and unnecessary; bringing only humiliation and unwanted attention to the personal lives of workers. Workplace acknowledgement of relationships has been known to lead to altercations and rumors, most people would like to keep the details of their personal relationships outside of the workplace. Instead of having the consensual workplace agreements, companies should ban dating and romance in the working place altogether. Therefore, one should not have to worry about treatment of employees regarding romance and legal affairs. Furthermore, the counter argument that Consensual