Sexual Harassment Versus Workplace Romance
According to the article Sexual harassment versus workplace romance: Social
media spillover and textual harassment in the workplace, there is a growing problem of
social media contributing to sexual harassment in the workplace. The article explains
three different perspectives: surveys on workplace romance; the risk of sexual harassment
after a workplace romance; the intersection of sexual harassment policies, privacy rights,
and social media polices. The article also discusses a concept of “love contracts”, which
would help in “[aiding] human resource professionals, legal experts, and romantic
couples concerning the risks of social media spillover and harassment from romance in
the office” (Mainero, 2013).
The introduction of the article points out how the “widespread use of social media
technologies for personal as well as professional use has created a new realm of legal and
ethical implications concerning romance and sexual harassment policies in today’s
workplace” (Mainero, 2013). Co-workers are likely to connect via social media such as
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc, which means that workplace interactions escape the
actual confines of the office environment. Without the tone or body language that an in-
person encounter provides, a compliment about a recently uploaded photo on social
media can be misconstrued to have a completely different meaning. “As employees use
social media technology in the workplace for both personal and professional uses,
interesting and provocative questions are raised… how and when should employers draw
the line concerning the rules of employee conduct inside and outside the office?”
(Mainero, 2013).
Starting on the first perspective of surveys on workplace romance, the article
discloses some staggering results. The outcome of a survey taken in 2013 by
CarreerBuilder showed that out of a pool of 4,000 workers nationwide, 39% admitted to
dating someone they worked with at least once in their lifetime. Another survey
administered by Vault.com in 2010, indicated that almost 60% of their survey population
had dated a co-worker. An overwhelming 84% of Millennials polled by Workplace
Options, reported that they would not mind having a workplace romance, while
Generation X was less than half that. While romance in the workplace is not on its own a
bad thing, “relationships that cross hierarchical boundaries, present a conflict of interest,
or call into question aspects of judgment or favoritism… it can become sexual
harassment, which requires legal oversight and human resource policy formulation”
