TORONTO — As Toronto Mayor John Tory prepares to step down after admitting an “inappropriate relationship” with a former employee, experts say preparation is key to shielding both workers and employers from the risks protect those relationships that entail.
Businesses and other organizations should have clear policies on office romance, particularly in relation to subordinate-boss relationships, as power imbalances occur, said Lior Samfiru, national co-managing partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
“Because can a relationship really be consensual when there’s this power imbalance?” he said.
Many companies do not allow relationships between subordinates or managers, but if they are to be allowed, clear disclosure should be required so that steps can be taken to minimize adverse impacts, such as: B. Concerns about being favored by other employees or for the subordinate not to feel trapped in the relationship and knowing who they can talk to about it confidentially, Tumarkin said.
“It’s reasonable to assume that if I once agreed to this relationship and now don’t agree with it, the subordinate will think carefully about what will happen to me if I say no, what will happen to me. can i finish it What’s going to happen to my job, my pay, my status at work?”
A 2019 survey of Canadians commissioned by recruitment agency ADP underscores the power imbalance, finding that 19 percent of respondents who were in a relationship at work said they felt pressure to be part of a romantic relationship in order to advance in their careers in good standing or be considered for favorable projects.
Policies governing managerial relations are not only about protecting employees, but also the employer, since without safeguards the company may also be held liable for any human rights laws that may come into play.
Because of the power imbalance, the law almost assumes there isn’t full consent, so an employee would just have to say it wasn’t consensual that there was a problem, Tumarkin said.
“The manager would have full human rights liability, which is why such a relationship is so problematic and risky.”
He said his understanding is that there is no City of Toronto policy that directly addresses the issue of a relationship between a mayor and an employee, but rather that a number of communities have come under close scrutiny of their policies in recent years .
Just last fall, the Ottawa City Council voted for guidelines dealing with relationships between council members and staff.
It’s also important to make those policies clear when onboarding employees, said Kiljon Shukullari, HR Advisory Manager at Peninsula Canada, both in terms of the policies themselves and how to disclose relationships or report issues.
“With open communication between the two sides, it is very important to avoid negative impact,” Shukullari said.
He said some workplaces are still taking a stricter approach, trying not to allow inter-office relationships, but that many are taking a more lenient approach and acknowledging that this is fairly common.
The ADP poll found that a third of respondents were in a relationship at work, while 83 percent agreed with the idea overall. Just under half said they had no formal policy at work. The poll was conducted by 885 Canadians with an error rate of plus or minus 3.3 percent on 19 out of 20 occasions.
Without a policy in place, companies could find themselves in damage control, Shukullari said.
“The problem is that when you don’t have anything and you have to react, and usually, especially with things like this, it can escalate pretty quickly. So instead of managing the situation, you may have a very messy claim on your hands.”
It’s also important to go beyond policy and make sure managers are actually educated on these issues, said Lisa Stam, founder and managing partner at labor and human rights law firm SpringLaw.
“It’s up to the managers. All liability, all responsibility,” Stam said. “Whether you’re mayor or CEO or whatever leadership position you hold, those regular reminders about ethics and the betrayal of trust that happens when you sleep with a subordinate.”
She said that while problems certainly crop up during the relationship, the ramifications often come after the end, raising ongoing questions about promotions or other emerging benefits or penalties.
“It gets emotionally chaotic, and then these power imbalances occur, not during.”
Such regulations also give the management or the board of directors more options for action. The failure to disclose a relationship was reason enough for the McDonald’s Corp. board to fire former CEO Steve Easterbrook in 2019, while CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker resigned last year after finding himself in a consensual relationship with a colleagues had not disclosed.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 14, 2023.
Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
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