The CEO of McDonalds has been fired for having a relationship with an employee, Employment Partner Keely Rushmore comments on the climate around work romances and that employers must strike the right balance – after all, everyone is entitled to a private life.
The policies maintained by some companies reserve the right when there is a conflict of interest to transfer one or both employees to another department, or to change their reporting lines.
Keely Rushmore, comments in Personnel Today that the climate around work romances had changed in recent years: “Everyone is entitled to a private life, and that private life can extend into the workplace. However, work relationships can raise the legal risk that an employer is exposed to – particularly risks of claims of harassment and sex discrimination if the relationship doesn’t work out.
“Taking this into account, as well as the increased scrutiny to which employers and their employees are being subjected in the wake on the #MeToo movement, it’s perhaps not surprising that many employers now choose to implement a policy specifically addressing workplace relationships.”
