Spouses Working Together at the Same Workplace

Different companies have different practices concerning spouses working at the same place. The general rule I have seen is that most companies do not have issue with spouses, working for the same place, as long as they are in different departments. If it is a small Setup and they work together, it is advised not doing this. There are some factors simply beyond control:

1. One downside of working with spouse is that all your eggs are in one basket.
2. Partiality is a huge deal in business; most companies generally frown upon spouses working in a boss/subordinate manner, as it could lead to huge problems with partiality which in turn could lead to huge problems for the company including complaints or lawsuits from other employees.
3. There is no privacy between the two. Even for a small talk with colleagues makes both suspicious, especially when talking to colleague of opposite gender - this normally ends in forcing them to think as husband or as a wife instead of a professional and the bad effect of this makes the colleague to suffer.
4. Domestic problems also sometimes come in making both embarrassing in presence of office colleagues.
5. In a small team, it irritates everyone else when the couple always take their holidays at the same time, leaving the team short staffed and team members working unpaid overtime until they return.
6. If one is sick with the flu, the other will most likely be sick.
7. Both of them being Managers or being part of Senior Management make it difficult to complain about the other one if you have a workplace problem with one of them, you know for a fact both of them would have probably already discussed the issue and form an opinion on it and you feel like a fool telling the husband his wife is lazy and screwed everything up, but he would always stand up for his wife who can never been at fault and vice versa.
8. If the role of any of the spouses has to be eliminated due to restructuring or downsizing of the department, it becomes tough for the another to work - sometimes he/she may deeply feel hurt and frustrated which in turn impacts his/her perception about the company.

Companies have a policy against spouses working together at the same workplace, however with unmarried dating couples, management tend to turn a blind eye, Why & What's the solution? The question is why these discriminating policies exist? Best friends can cause similar trouble if one of them is the boss and favouring his/her best friend. The same counts for family members. Every employee signs his/her own contract and accepts certain rules indicated in the contract. By not following the contract, actions should follow - whether spouses or not. But if the couple meets at work having signed individually the policy against spouses working together at the same workplace, they should respect what they signed and one should look for another job.

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