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Romance Sexual Harassment Transfers

I supervise a new employee in my department, and she is single and so am I. We ran into each other outside of work and now we see a lot of each other. We have a good time together, and I don't feel like ending it just because the company frowns on this type of thing. Is it much of a problem if we keep our relationship quiet and keep it completely out of the workplace?



With your hidden smiles, lingering gazes, and the temptation to tell just one other person, it is a matter of time before your covert relationship becomes overt. Since that is inevitable, you need to step back and look at what is actually happening here.

Because you are in a personal relationship with one of your subordinates, you are probably in violation of company policy. And as much as you may try to maintain your objectivity and professional distance, it will be extremely difficult for you to be fair with this particular employee. It is not impossible to be fair, but it is highly unlikely, especially when it comes to evaluating questionable performance.

Although it is tough to see through the fog of infatuation right now, many of these relationships do not pass the test of time. And when they run out of gas, one relatively common outcome is a sexual harassment claim.

If this relationship continues, and if you also want to continue a relationship with your employer, one of you should be thinking about transferring from this department.





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