Posted on August 22nd, 2019
Below is a complete transcript of this video.
What’s happening fellow entrepreneurs? It’s John Fagerholm again. And today, I wanted to discuss employees that are dating each other.
So, there really isn’t a way to stop someone from doing whatever they’re doing in their personal life. Sure, you could discourage it.
You could even discourage it in your handbook, but there really isn’t any way to stop it. Now, why do you even care? Well, you care because it tends to cause a lot of problems.
First of all, just productivity. You know, a lot of times, especially when they began dating, productivity problems, and then if they’re arguing or fighting, productivity problems.
But that’s not the main risk, or at least, that’s not the legal issue. The legal issue is that once they stop dating, then there’s an issue with consent. Right?
So, I have a lot of cases … Or, I’ve had a lot of cases throughout the years where a couple was dating, and then they fight or whatever and they decide to stop dating, and then one or the other is still pursuing the other one, and then it becomes harassment.
Right? Because it’s not consensual. So then, my clients end up with a lawsuit for something they couldn’t even control, perceivably, right?
So, if there two employees at the same level, then not as bad.
But if it’s a supervisor dating someone that they’re supervising, then it becomes a really big problem because you, as the employer, are directly responsible for what the supervisor does.
So, anyway, I don’t have any solutions for how you prevent people from dating, because I just don’t think there are.
I mean, it’s human nature for people to be attracted to each other if they’re spending a lot of time with each other, but at least it’s something to look out for.
All right, fellow entrepreneurs, until next time, be productive.
