Office Romances v Privacy

1. Office Romances v Privacy Organization should NOT be informed. Ashley Onizuk Business Management, Human Resources Dec 2010 Will Reaves Business Management, Finance May 2011

2. Ethical Principles… Individual Rights Universal Rules • “and would provide security against…interference with privacy, or deprivation of liberty without due process”. • Effects all persons • Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights • “...indicates that there should be rules and morals in society that should be fair to everyone, that they should universally apply”. • Effects selective groups • Same sex, Adulterers • Hosmer, “rules and morals in society that should be fair to everyone, that they should universally apply, and that they should apply over time”.

3. BP: Code of Conduct(www.bp.com) The code covers five key areas of our business operations: Privacy and employee confidentiality • What does the code cover? • The operations: health, safety, security and the environment – fundamental rules and guidance to help us protect the natural environment, the safety of the communities in which we operate, and the health, safety and security of our people • employees – covering fair treatment and equal opportunity, providing guidance for dealing with cases of harassment or abuse and for protecting privacy and employee confidentiality • business partners – providing detailed guidance on giving and receiving gifts and entertainment, conflicts of interest, competition, trade restrictions, money laundering and working with suppliers • governments and communities – covering such areas as bribery, dealing with governments, community engagement, external communications and political activity • company assets and financial integrity – containing guidance about accurate and complete records and reporting, protecting company property, intellectual property, insider trading and digital systems • BP is committed to respecting the confidentiality of our employees’ personal information. It is BP policy to acquire and retain only employee personal data that is required for the effective operation of BP, or that is required by law in the places where we operate.

4. Applying Principles & BP Code of Conduct • Both employed at Text100. • Met working on a project together. • Kept a secret until company Christmas party. • After admitting about the relationship found out everyone already assumed. • Advice was to use common sense and don’t make co-workers uncomfortable. • Individual right to privacy of a persons relationship. • A study by Vault.com shows that almost half of us have been romantically tied to someone at work and that workplace relationships often can be successful; roughly one-quarter result in long-term relationships and even marriage. • Most companies do not have HR policies to deal with office romances and less that 15% have “love contracts (BP does not mention employee relationships at all).

5. Advantages(to not informing the organization) • Personal privacy • No confusion on when to inform relationship status • Less of a complication (embarrassment/paperwork) when 2 employees break up

6. Disadvantages(to not informing the organization) • Sexual harassment lawsuits • Office gossip • No ability to transfer one or both employees to new role • Emotional stress may lead an employee to lash out and commit an act of violence if the problem has not been addressed

7. GE Code of Conduct (www.ge.com) • Obey the applicable laws and regulations governing our business conduct worldwide. • Be honest, fair and trustworthy in all your GE activities and relationships. • Avoid all conflicts of interest between work and personal affairs. • Foster an atmosphere in which fair employment practices extend to every member of the diverse GE community. • Strive to create a safe workplace and to protect the environment. • Through leadership at all levels, sustain a culture where ethical conduct is recognized, valued and exemplified by all employees

8. Works Cited • Blanchard, Jennifer. Interoffice Romances, Whats Your Companies Policy?HRTools, 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. <http://https://www.hrtools.com/staffing/interoffice_romances_whats_ your_companys_policy.aspx>. • Office Romance on the Rise. CBS, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/22/earlyshow/main6231815. shtml>. • Office Romance Policies. Business Knowledge Source, 2010. Web. 08 June 2010. <http://www.businessknowledgesource.com/blog/office_romance_polici es_029573.html>. • Sexty, Robert. W. Assessing the Implications of Ethics in the Business Environment. 2004. 08 June 2010. http://www.busi.mun.ca/rsexty/business8107/AssessingEthics.htm>.