Officials Order Employees to Declare Office Romances In Writing

Officials at Fenland District Council in Britain have raised the ire of union bosses by proposing that employees declare in writing any personal relationships with co-workers. "Any employee who embarks on a close personal relationship with a colleague working in the same team must declare the relationship to his/her manager in writing," reads the document, adding that the specifics of the relationship will remain in the employees file. "It's quite common for relationships to start in the office, but having to declare your feelings via the HR department is hardly the most romantic way to make a move. Whilst it's important for employers to tackle inappropriate behavior at work, laying down Orwellian dictates about people's personal lives will simply generate resentment among staff," said Sarah Veale, Trade Unions Congress Head of Employment Rights.

shy away

[dbune]

Not a good step from the HR IMHO. Most of them would not declare in writing but continue to romance even in office. You can't stop people feelings with a policy !

Not the goal

[dazedNconfuzed]

The point isn't to stop anyone, it's to not get blindsided by the consequences.

Whoever wrote the policy, however, is unaware of the concept of "recursion".

Not surprising

[justinlee37]

I've worked in the tech department of a large American university for the past 3 years (I'm also a student there). We've always had a policy similar to the one outlined here. Of course, almost no one pays attention to it, but that means you have to be discreet. I suppose it is kind of like 1984 ... trying to pass secret notes back and forth or meeting in secret places to avoid drawing the attention of the managers.

The managers really just have everyone's best interests in mind though. It wouldn't really be

To the Boss:

[russ1337]

I hereby declare that I will have a 'relationship' with one of the girls from accounting, and hopefully that girl who works at reception.

Yours

IT guy.

Just how much detail do they want?

[anyGould]

"adding that the specifics of the relationship will remain in the employees file"

Hopefully they just mean "started relationship on date X, ended on date Y" and not something like:

1/2 - date at local eatery. Good night kiss.
1/4 - attended local theatre production. Third base reached.
(etc, etc, bow-chicka-wow-wow, etc.)

If I was one of those employees, I would be sorely tempted to start all those reports with "I never thought I'd be writing in..."