When news broke of Barnaby Joyce’s relationship with former staffer Vikki Campion, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull responded with a blanket ban on relationships between ministers and staffers.
In another arena, senior AFL officials Simon Lethlean and Richard Simkiss quit last year because of “inappropriate” relationships with younger staff, while QBE's chief executive at the time, John Neal, had his pay docked $550,000 for not disclosing his office romance.
While a workplace can’t legally prohibit sexual relationships in Australia, individuals can be reprimanded by their employers if they have rules in place.
And while there have been a number of problematic relationships – including sexual harassment claims in accounting and consulting giants EY and KPMG – the effectiveness of a blanket ban has come into question.
[videocard video="11753027759"]
Relationships in the workplace are inevitable
A previous survey by Relationships Australia found that approximately 10 per cent of people met their partner at work.
Dr Adam Gerace of Central Queensland University, who specialises in social psychology, says it’s only natural for romantic and non-romantic bonds to form at work.
“Similar people gravitate to similar workplaces and similarity breeds attraction,” Dr Gerace says.
“Research also tells us that working in close proximity and interacting on similar projects can foster positives feelings towards a person and lead to attraction.”
A ban won’t stand
Catherine Cahill, the director of human resources at Michael Cassel Group, believes it’s a naïve policy to think a ban could work and that it would only push relationships underground.
“Disclosure is the only way, otherwise you may end up losing one or two good people who have fallen in love on the job,” Catherine says.
“People are married and that’s supposed to stop them from having relationships, but it doesn’t, so a policy definitely wouldn’t.”
Dr Gerace says that for some people, the secretive nature of a workplace relationship can add to the initial sexual attraction between the two parties.
“It differs for different people but some research tells us that secrecy can increase romantic attraction because suppression of feelings or romantic behaviour can, ironically, lead to thinking more about that person,” he says.
[videocard video="11748931846"]
Power imbalance
Professor Denise Cuthbert, associate deputy vice chancellor for Research, Training and Development at RMIT, is advocating for a ban of sexual relationships between university staff and students.
She believes in the workplace that a distinction must be made between colleagues at the same level and relationships with an imbalance of power.
“I don’t think it is particularly helpful to talk about bans in this case; What I think is helpful, is to understand that certain relationships in organisations are so characterised by an imbalance of power, that the free consent of the less powerful party can’t stand,” she says.
Professor Cuthbert suggests companies assume an imbalance of power exists, and should require employees to prove there is no coercion.
“Banning sex or this approach has never been successful. But equally, coercive power relationships also fail to protect people who stand to be victimised.”
