Media circles were in a tizzy Wednesday over the stunning resignation of CNN President Jeff Zucker, one of the most powerful figures in television, who said in a statement to employees that he failed to make a required disclosure about a consensual relationship with a colleague.
Yet among employment lawyers, the story was a reminder of the importance of workplace romance policies, especially as companies return to offices and resume more in-person activities.
Such “non-fraternization” rules, as they’re sometimes called, have “probably gathered some dust on the shelf” at some companies over the past two years, says Amy Bess, a partner with Vedder Price based in Washington. She says such policies are still just as relevant, and doesn’t think they’ve been forgotten, but suspects they will be part of a policy review process companies will do as they plan in-person office returns.
“Just last week a client asked me to draft one of these policies for them,” she says—the first time in a couple of years. “That may be a sign that this, along with additional policies that are important in returning to the workplace, are going to be taken out and dusted off.”
Following the #metoo movement, companies strengthened their workplace romance policies, says Jonathan Segal, a partner with Duane Morris in Philadelphia. Yet amid the pandemic, when many professional employees have been working from home and not interacting with colleagues during boozy happy hours or business travel trips, he says he hasn’t gotten as many questions from human resources officials on the topic.
“Keeping up with Covid was a full-time job,” he says. “I do see employers, as they look at their 2022 things to do, say one of them is to refresh their policies on harassment” and workplace romance. He also notes he has had a few clients say they want to add a disclosure policy to their workplace romance rules as they plan their office returns.
Bess recommends that companies prohibit even consensual relationships between supervisors and subordinates, or at least require their disclosure. But for relationships between equal peers, “it would be impossible to enforce” such a policy, she says. “You’d become the relationship police poking around in people’s business. … The real concern is where it can have a negative impact [on an employee’s career]; where a supervisor can really affect the terms and conditions of someone’s employment.”
At WarnerMedia, CNN’s parent company, the “standards of business conduct” includes a section called “personal relationships at work.” It says that “to avoid a conflict of interest, employees must not hire or supervise (directly or indirectly) someone with whom they have a personal relationship.” It adds that “if you are in a position to influence the employment, advancement or hiring of someone with whom you have a personal relationship … you must inform the HR department in advance of taking any action.”
The colleague with whom Zucker had the relationship was separately identified in multiple media reports as CNN executive vice president and chief marketing officer Allison Gollust. A spokeswoman for CNN declined to comment further about the resignation, but said in an email to Forbes that its policy has been in place for a “number of years” and that “every employee confirms receiving and accepting the Standards of Business Conduct of which that policy is a part.”
Zucker’s departure comes at a critical time for parent company WarnerMedia, which is expected to merge with Discovery by mid-year. It is also dealing with the fallout from former CNN host Chris Cuomo’s firing following a review into help he gave his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, amid an investigation into sexual harassment allegations. In Zucker’s memo, posted on Twitter by CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, he wrote that he was asked about the relationship “as part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure.”
Even over Zoom, “there will be flirtation. There will be attraction. There will be poor judgement.”
As president of CNN, Zucker was almost certainly in a position to influence the advancement or employment of any employee. That’s why CEOs or top leaders, in particular, must be held to such rules, employment lawyers say. “The person at the top of the organization always has the ability to impact someone’s employment in some way, whether it’s direct or indirect,” Bess says. There could also be “the appearance of inequity or unfairness. … another employee could believe that despite all the steps that have been taken to ensure fairness, someone else in their peer group is getting treated more favorably.”
Julie Moore, an employment lawyer whose firm, Employment Practices Group, investigates workplace misbehavior, says she always asks companies about fraternization policies when she’s working on harassment issues, because it’s easy for the two to overlap, especially if a relationship turns sour. Even a truly consensual relationship, she says, can be complicated “with someone who’s superior to you, and who controls your compensation, your career path and advancement.”
Moore says the Zucker news is also a reminder to human resources executives that once an employer has “notice or knowledge” of conduct that could run counter to workplace policies, “it has a duty to look into it and investigate—it doesn’t matter if it’s a Glassdoor review or a written letter from 10 employees.”
Even in workplaces that continue remote work on a permanent basis, such policies are still important. When the pandemic first sent people home to work in their home offices, Moore says she worried her business would dry up without coworkers flirting over post-work cocktails or rubbing shoulders late at night in the office.
But she’s been “as busy as ever with investigations into misconduct” allegations, she says, whether they involve harassment or violations of workplace relationship policies. “Human behavior is what it is,” she says. Even over Zoom, “there will be flirtation. There will be attraction. There will be poor judgement.”
"Exit" - Google News
February 03, 2022 at 11:30PM
https://ift.tt/rjZgMBlGm
Jeff Zucker's Exit Underscores Why Workplace Romance Policies Still Matter, Even After Two Years Of Remote Work - Forbes
"Exit" - Google News
https://ift.tt/hTUZ1u2dW
https://ift.tt/DKugH9C35
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jeff Zucker's Exit Underscores Why Workplace Romance Policies Still Matter, Even After Two Years Of Remote Work - Forbes"
Post a Comment