I remember in my early days as a lawyer there were two other young lawyers I worked with who briefly had a relationship. It didn’t last long but some time after its ending the girl made a complaint that the guy was sexually harassing her and stalking her.
If my workplace had got them to sign a love contract then perhaps the post relationship fallout could have been minimised.
from www.dashrconsulting.com
In the United States some big companies have introduced “love- contracts” which are agreements signed by work colleagues who are also couples stating that they are in a consensual relationship.
This can be of use if later one of the people complains that they are being sexually harassed by the person they said they were in a consensual relationship with. The signed contract may demonstrate that the sexual conduct was welcomed and therefore not sexual harassment. But it wouldn’t address the issue where the sexual harassment occurred after the ending of the consensual relationship.
I’ve read numerous sexual harassment cases where the court had to determine whether the complainant and the respondent were in a consensual sexual relationship or not-obviously by the time it got to court the complainant (usually female)was saying it was not a consensual sexual relationship and the respondent (usually male) was saying it was- a love contract could have helped in these situations.
Australia hasn’t yet gone down the path of love contracts and may not but here are some sensible principles to follow in relation to workplace dating-
Have a workplace code of conduct that makes it clear that when at work people are work colleagues first and partners second- so no sexualised behaviour is appropriate at work
If someone is a manager avoid getting into a sexual relationship with someone junior, especially if the manager directly manages them. Managers must be role-models to all staff and beyond reproach
If work colleagues have dated and then break up then communicate that to a manager before anything at work goes wrong so that if it does the manager is aware of the situation and can minimise possible fallout