Love Contracts: What Restaurant Owners Should Know About Consensual Relationships Between Employees

The line between work-life and home-life is increasingly blurring as people spend more time at work or connected to work. With technology that enables ongoing and continuous access to the work environment and the rising expectation that employees be available 24/7, the smart employer needs to revisit their workplace romance policy and personnel manual to make sure it recognizes the new realities of dating.

Particularly in the restaurant industry, employees often work long and late hours together and socialize outside of the workplace. This can encourage both platonic friendships and romantic relationships. While these relationships can result in a culture of camaraderie, thereby increasing productivity and decreasing turnover, it can also result in the development of consensual romantic relationships. With these relationships comes the potential for legal claims of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and favoritism between different employees. Workplace romance policies – of…