Would you ever hear of the "love contracts" and then wonder what it's about? Yes, you are not alone. Yet, love contracts are a hot topic, a new norm which has, however, been attracting media attention. Love contracts were primarily introduced in the United States as an alternative to no-dating policies and to protect the employer against firm liability in possible claims of sexual harassment.
In simple terms, love contracts are born into existence to regulate the impact that would come out during or after the relationship and its fur flung effects towards companies. Due to the threat of the relationship spillovers that would come out of workplace romance, companies decide to essentially draft internal memos for some work setting to avoid compliance risks at the workplace.
Arguably, workplace romance is an unavoidable phenomenon primarily because coworkers spend excessive hours together. The chances are also that the coworkers find themselves having similar tastes, hobbies, education and so forth.
In fact, the drama and relationship sagas could be disastrous towards the company's normal workings if not anticipated well, and normally that's why company's managers are able to think out of the box and decide about the relationships spillovers such as harassment as well as undercover hatreds that would trigger suspensions and breaches of ethics.
On the other hand, love contracts are too designed to regulate office romance during the time of a relationship. It is also likely; that coworkers who are in office romance might show off their relationships or what would be specified as a Public display of affection while at work or peck each other. With the Public display of affection or PDA, the other coworkers, either on a junior level or at the same level, might feel uncomfortable.
Despite work, a relationship is indirectly minimized with love contracts, and some couples could refer to it as "unromantic" and shy away from the disclosure of what is going on in their circles. As a result, employers have supported the idea that coworkers engage in workplace romances because of the benefits involved, such as motivation at the workplace and job satisfaction.
Research has found that 40% of workers in the US have dated a coworker. And the percentage explains why love contracts are applied in legal jurisdictions with the advanced set of labour rights promotion like the US and alike.
A report published by the National Women's Law Center portrays more than one in three workers experiencing sexual assault, rape or other physical harassment. And according to the report of workers who have reported work harassment, two of the three were coming from a hierarchical level.
The US official figures indicate office romance topped 27% higher than it was before the pandemic, with a quarter of them cohabiting during COVID-19.
According to Rebecca Kelly, CEO and founder of Venue Scanner, "office camaraderie provides a level of human connection we all need and plays a huge role in inspiring employees and driving success, but it's in danger of fizzling out if get-togethers are primarily virtual."
Also, according to Anita Allen, a Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, "workplace romance policies can help curb inappropriate displays of affection, reduce distractions and discourage unfair treatment among employees."
One in five of the 1,000 office workers questioned by VentureScanner anticipated to be completely office-based, which the company claimed meant that workers were missing out on important in-person interactions.
Many of the employees who participated in the study's interviews stated that workplace romance was a fantastic area to meet people and form new relationships, with 58% of them saying they had made close friends at work and 14% connecting coworkers to their friends outside of the workplace.
Ninety-four per cent of those surveyed (94) indicated they wanted to interact with coworkers; only 15 per cent wanted to work full-time in an office, while 56 per cent preferred a hybrid schedule.