Excerpted from Ethikos
July/August 2005
By Emily Layzer Sherwood

The Touchy Issue of Intra-Office Romance

Excerpt:
David Gebler, President of Massachusetts-based Working Values Ltd., an ethics consulting firm, says that dating policies should be clearly written in a company's code of conduct -- specifically, within the "conflicts of interest" section. "I'm a big believer in treating the code of conduct like a constitution," says Gebler. "And it should be broad enough to cover the full spectrum of types of behavior that come up in an organization." He adds that "HR plicies should be consistent with the code."

...

In sum, carefully articulated policies and procedures are advisable to avoid ethical violations, conflict-of-interest situations, lowered employee morale, potential productivity lapses, and costly or embarrassing sexual harassment suits. As David Gebler points out, in the post-9/11, post-Enron workplace, Americans are more willing to give up privacies once deemed inviolate. Like office emails, the workplace romance is one such freedom that faces increased scrutiny and regulation.

The full story is available by ordering a back order of the July/August 2005 edition of Ethikos for a fee.