Role of workplace romance policies and procedures on job pursuit intentions

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine experimentally the effects of stipulations in an organization's workplace romance policy and procedures on individuals' perceptions of fairness, workplace fun, person‐organization (P‐O) fit, organizational attraction, and intent to pursue employment in the organization. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 103 business students and 79 casino employees assumed the role of a job seeker. They read one of five versions of a vignette that describes an organization's romance policy and consensual relationship agreement, and completed measures of dependent and control variables. Findings – An organization's type of romance policy has an effect on individuals' perceptions of fairness of the policy and degree to which the organization would be a fun place to work, and its type of consensual relationship agreement has an effect on individuals' perceptions of the degree to which the organization treats its employees fairly. The results also indicate that individuals' perceptions of the fairness of the type of romance policy and relationship agreement are positively associated with the degree to which they perceive the organization to be a fun place to work and their perceived P‐O fit. Individuals' perceptions of the organization being a fun place to work and P‐O fit are, in turn, positively associated with their organizational attraction, which, in its turn, is positively associated with their job pursuit intentions. Practical implications – Perceived fairness of stipulations in an organization's romance policy and procedures may signal to job seekers the degree to which the organization would be a fun place to work, provide P‐O fit, and be attractive to pursue as an employer. Thus, with respect to managing workplace romances proactively via policies and procedures, organizations should consider the fairness perceptions of job seekers and not just organizational members. Originality/value – This is the first study to show that workplace romance policies and procedures may play a role in job pursuit intentions.