10/8/2015
Uyab-uyab sa Opisina:
Managing Romance in the Workplace
October 9, 2015
1:00 PM – 5:30 PM
BIG Hotel
OUTLINE
I.
What is workplace romance?
A.
B.
II.
What are the effects of workplace romance?
A.
B.
C.
III.
Definition
Types of Relationship
The good
The bad
The ugly
What can employers do?
A.
B.
Basic legal principles
a.
Balancing employee’s rights and employer’s rights
b.
Protecting employer’s rights
Managing workplace romance
a.
Prohibition against dating/romantic relationships
b.
Other policies
IV.
Case Quiz
V.
Q&A / Open Forum
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Workplace
• A place, such as an office or factory, where
people are employed
• The work setting in general
http://www.thefreedictionary.com citing American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company. Retrieved on September 14, 2015.
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Workplace
•
The office, premises or work site where the workers
are habitually employed and shall include the office
or place where the workers who have no fixed or
definite work site regularly report for assignment in
the course of their employment
Labor Code, Implementing Rules and Regulations, Book IV, Rule I, Section 2.
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Romance
•
A love affair
•
Ardent emotional attachment or involvement
between people; love
•
A strong, sometimes shortlived attachment,
fascination, or enthusiasm for something
http://www.thefreedictionary.com citing American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company. Accessed on September 14, 2015. Retrieved on September 14, 2015.
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Workplace Romance
• A love affair in the office
• Office romance
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Workplace Romance
“Workplace romance exists when two members of
the same organization develop a relationship with
mutual attraction.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_romance citing Salvaggio, Amy Nicole; Streich Michelle (April 2011).
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love (At Work?)".Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Retrieved on September 14, 2015.
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Definitions
Workplace Romance
“A relationship that occurs between two members of an
organization where sexual attraction is present, affection is
communicated, and both members recognize the
relationship to be something more than just professional and
platonic”
Horan, S. M., & Chory, R. M. (2011). Understanding Work-Life Blending: Credibility implications for those who
date at work as cited in Cowan, R.L. & Horan, S.M. (2014). Love at the Office? Understanding Workplace
Romance Disclosures and Reactions from the Coworker Perspective, Western Journal of Communication.
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WHAT IS WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
Types of Relationship
Hierarchical
•
Romance involving individuals at different levels in
hierarchical position
Lateral
•
Romance between employees who work in similar
positions in terms of the organizational hierarchy
Nolan C. Lickey, Gergory R. Berry and Karen S. Whelan-Berry (2009). Responding to Workplace Romance: A
Proactive and Pragmatic Approach. Retrieved on September 14, 2015 from
http://www.uvu.edu/woodbury/docs/respondingtoworkplaceromance.pdf
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WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
The Good
1. Fosters enthusiasm, inspiration and happiness
which may promote productivity
2. May lead to marriages or stable long-term
relationships which may foster loyalty to the
company
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WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
The Bad
1. Decreases productivity of couple-employees
• Pursuing relationship during company time
• Distractions
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WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
The Bad
2. Damages morale and productivity of co-employees
• Allegations of favoritism
• Perception of inequality
• Gossiping
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WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE ROMANCE?
The Ugly
1.
Hostile Environment
2.
Sexual Harassment
3.
Conflict of Interest
4.
Disclosure of Confidential/Proprietary Information
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
• Balancing Employee’s Rights and
Employer’s Rights
• Protecting Employer’s Rights
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Employee’s Rights and Employer’s Rights
Employee’s Rights
• Right to privacy
• Right to security of tenure
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Employee’s Rights and Employer’s Rights
Employer’s Rights
Employers too have rights that are inherent in the management of
business enterprises. They have the right to regulate every aspect
of their business, generally without restraint in accordance with
their own discretion and judgment.
These are collectively and commonly referred to as “management
prerogatives”.
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Employer’s Rights: Management Prerogatives
• Good faith
• Advancement of the employer’s interest
• Not for the purpose of defeating or circumventing the
rights of employees under special laws, valid agreements,
and general principles of justice and fair play
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Employer’s Rights: Management Prerogatives
• Right to expect from employees adequate work,
good performance, diligence and good conduct
• Right to protect economic interests
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Protecting Employer’s Rights
•
Prescribe reasonable rules and regulations
necessary or proper for the conduct of its
business
•
Provide disciplinary measures, including
termination, to implement said rules and
regulations and assure compliance therewith
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Protecting Employer’s Rights
•
Dismissal of employees for just cause
a)
Serious misconduct or willful disobedience by the employee of the lawful
orders of his employer or representative in connection with his work;
Gross and habitual neglect by the employee of his duties;
Fraud or willful breach by the employee of the trust reposed in him by his
employer or duly authorized representative;
Commission of a crime or offense by the employee against the person of
his employer or any immediate member of his family or his duly
authorized representatives; and
Other causes analogous to the foregoing.
b)
c)
d)
e)
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Serious Misconduct
Misconduct is improper or wrong conduct.
• It must be willful in character.
• It must be serious.
• It must relate to the performance of the employee's
duties showing him unfit to continue working for the
employer.
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Basic Legal Principles
Willful Disobedience
• The order must be:
i. reasonable and lawful;
ii. sufficiently known to the employee; and
iii. in connection with the duties of the employee.
• The disobedience must have been willful or intentional, the
willfulness being characterized by a wrongful or perverse
attitude.
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Managing Workplace Romance
Prohibition against dating or romantic
relationships between employees
Is such policy lawful?
•
•
Star Paper Corporation v. Simbol (2006)
Duncan Association v. Glaxo (2004, 2005)
Should management adopt such policy?
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO?
Managing Workplace Romance
Other Policies
Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Code of Conduct and Decorum
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT
• It is committed by an employer, employee, manager,
supervisor, agent of the employer, or any person who, having
authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another,
demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor
from the other.
• It is committed regardless of whether or not the demand,
request or requirement for submission to such act is accepted
by the object of said act.
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHO IS LIABLE FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT
• The offender
• Any one who directs or induces another to commit an act of
sexual harassment
• Any one who cooperates directly or indirectly in the
commission of an act of sexual harassment, without which it
would not have been committed
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHEN IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMMITTED
•
Sexual favor is demanded as a condition in the hiring, employment, reemployment or continued employment of, or in granting favorable
compensation, terms, conditions, promotions or privileges to the
individual;
or
• Refusal of sexual favor results in limiting, segregating, or classifying the
employee which would in any way discriminate, deprive or diminish
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect said individual;
and
• The above acts would impair the rights or privileges of the employee, OR
would result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for the
employee
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHAT IS THE DUTY OF THE EMPLOYER
To prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment
and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or
prosecution of acts of sexual harassment
a) Promulgate appropriate rules and regulations in consultation with and
jointly approved by the employees, through their duly designated
representatives, prescribing the procedure for the investigation of sexual
harassment cases and the administrative sanctions therefor.
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHAT IS THE DUTY OF THE EMPLOYER
To prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment
and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or
prosecution of acts of sexual harassment
b) Create a committee on decorum and investigation of cases on sexual
harassment. The committee shall conduct meetings, as the case may be,
with officers and employees, teachers, instructors, professors, coaches,
trainors and students or trainees to increase understanding and prevent
incidents of sexual harassment. It shall also conduct the investigation of
alleged cases constituting sexual harassment.
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Republic Act No. 7877
"Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
WHAT IS THE LIABILITY OF THE EMPLOYER
• The employer shall be solidarily liable for damages arising
from the acts of sexual harassment committed in the
employment environment if the employer is informed of such
acts by the offended party and no immediate action is taken
thereon.
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THANK YOU
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