Olga started her HR career back in 2002 at Administrator level and worked her way up to Human Resources Manager responsible for managing the entire HR life-cycle in a fast-paced tech environment. Olga has presented at many tech events and has conducted TV and radio interviews as well as producing internal and external promotional videos to promote the employer brand.
After leaving the software sector Olga worked in the public sector in an interim Employee Relations position before moving to Phoenix Natural Gas as Human Resources Manager responsible for both HR and payroll. Here Olga digitised the recruitment process and created a health and wellbeing strategy among other things.
Still within the utilities sector, Olga moved to firmus energy as HR Manager in August 2019 where she focuses on employee engagement through an array of engagement interventions.
Olga has a BA Hons in Sociology and a Post Graduate level Diploma in Human Resource Management. She also holds a NEBOSH certificate in Health & Safety Management and is a member of the CIPD.
Olga strives to add value to any organisation she works in with the genuine belief that employers have a duty to create an environment where people want to come to work every day and contribute to the success of the organisation; just like the janitor in NASA!
Valentine's day is upon us again but what rights, if any do employers have to manage office romances? The so-called 'love contracts' in the US were an attempt to curb relationships particularly for senior staff and in doing so protect the organisation from sexual harassment claims. But it would seem that in the UK such measures are at odds with the right to respect for private and family life under Human Rights' law.
During my working life, I have known of many couples who have met through work and gone on to marry and start a family. According to my research, office romances are common but what happens if things turn sour and there isn't always the fairytale ending? Respondents in a new survey reckoned that office romances have a negative impact on productivity and that a significant amount of money was spent dealing with the fallout from complaints such as sexual harassment. So this has left me wondering how employers can safeguard themselves from such risks while at the same time avoiding contractual clauses which are in breach of human rights.
The common advice points to encouraging staff to remain professional in work and keep their personal and private lives separate. We should also ensure that we have bullying and harassment policies in place in the event that someone makes a complaint of sexual harassments. Furthermore, we must take all allegations seriously and deal with them in a timely manner.
It may well be that relationship problems become distracting for one or both employees and result in a lapse of performance. As with any underperformance issue, we should be having early conversations with staff and providing them with the necessary support and opportunities to improve before moving to any formal procedure.
Matters can become even more thorny when relationships involve line managers and their subordinates. Team members may become unhappy with perceived favouritism or where the relationship breaks down this could lead to difficulties. Frequently employers require senior managers to disclose workplace relationships, however, should issues arise then it is important not to treat one party more or less favourably than the other. This is particularly the case, for example, when considering moving one individual to another department.
Finally, confidentiality clauses should be included in all employment contracts as a deterrent to the employee sharing confidential information with their partner. This can become even more problematic should one leave to go and work for a competitor and disclose this information.
So despite the chances of things going wrong, it is important to remember that this may not always be the case. We need to balance the potential risks against human rights. Where couples work professionally side by side without problems then there really is no problem. Relationships at work can work!
Useful Reading: ⚓︎
Valentine’s Day: What rights do office lovebirds have over workplace romances?
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