In the midst of all the sexual harassment debates, Facebook and Google have decided that people that work for them are allowed to ask each other out once. But only once. Here is why.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook and Google’s dating policy is pretty clear and fair: “Employees are only allowed to ask a co-worker out once. If they are turned down, they don’t get to ask again. Ambiguous answers such as “I’m busy” or “I can’t that night,” count as a “no”.”
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This rule is both fair and clear because it protects both the employer and the employee. The employer is protected against possible law suits if things get messy. And the employee is given the chance to find a date among the co-workers, if this is what they want. But most importantly, the employees, especially the women, are protected against sexual harassment.
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The “once and once only” rule is a step forward towards gender equality in the workplace. Most men claim that women play the hard to get game and therefore it’s their duty to insist, while women claim that their no is almost always taken for “badger me until I say yes.”
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While neither Google nor Facebook is quite a bastion for workplace gender equality, at least they are trying to make an effort towards taking sexual harassment in the workplace seriously. Please, share this!
