Managing trust and risk issues in office relationships

Shifting legal expectations and heightened scrutiny around professional conduct are forcing organisations to take a more proactive approach to workplace relationships.

In a recent INTHEBLACK podcast episode, employment lawyer and director of Worklogic, Jodie Fox, shares that while office romances have declined slightly with the rise of online dating, they are far from disappearing.

What has changed, however, is how employers are expected to respond. Recent updates to Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act (1984) and Fair Work Act (2009) have introduced a stronger “positive duty” on employers, Fox says, to prevent sexual harassment and manage psychosocial risks at work.

“Employers need to understand the risks that are involved that might give rise to sexual harassment in their workplace, take steps to mitigate and monitor those risks, and continue to eliminate them,” she advises.

Have the conversation

The beginning and end of workplace relationships are high-risk periods for potential misconduct, Fox says. Unreciprocated advances or behaviour following a breakup can escalate into sexual harassment, exposing employers to significant legal liability.

While employers “quite rightly” may not want to get involved in an employee’s private life, she continues, “they need to not be afraid to have the conversations that they need to have with employees about this stuff, because it is not prurient. It is sensible risk management.”

Despite the risks, Fox stresses that workplace relationships are not inherently problematic. “I know that we all know many happy couples that have met at work,” she shares, but it needs to be done “with a fair bit of care and a fair bit of thought”.