Workplace Romance, Organizational Policy, and Employee Rights: A Qualitative Case Stud

With the amount of time men and women spend at work together the chance for workplace romance to occur has been increased. Employers are compelled to both protect themselves and the organization while providing a safe, comfortable environment for their employees. Workplace romance is a complex issue faced by employers every day. Growing concerns from employers included how to properly address romances between employees without invading their private lives and protecting the organization. The purpose of this study was to examine why employers developed workplace romance policies, how those policies differed from one another, and how an organization's workplace romance policy affected employees' rights to privacy. The study used a qualitative, multiple-case approach. The design of the qualitative case study emphasized the advantage of studying concepts in a natural setting. The study interviewed 12 participants that had experience and knowledge dealing with employee relations, and the development of policies within organizations. All participants were interviewed using an interview instrument that contained nine open-ended questions. Themes were identified through a cross-case analysis based on the commonality of the responses. The themes identified in this study included (a) sexual harassment; (b) productivity; (c) morale; (d) communication; (e) nepotism; (f) privacy; (h) trust; and (e) time spent together. The results of the study showed that the primary motivation for individuals engaged in a workplace romance was time spent together at work. The time at work gave individuals the opportunity to discover common interests. Organizational work-related factors such as productivity, morale and trust have been impacted both negatively and positively. Policies were created to protect both the organization and the employees and have been communicated at the time of hiring and training. There was minimal concern addressing employee privacy when establishing policies. Recommendation for futures studies include the replication of this study addressing workplace romance involving same-sex individuals and compare and contrasting those results with results from a heterosexual workplace romance. Another recommendation is to examine the expectation of privacy with the use of social media in the workplace. Final recommendation is to examine the difference between workplace romance and a work-spouse.