When romance meets rulebook

How companies deal with workplace relationships

- Sharleen D'Souza, Sarthak Choudhury & Sohini Das

On September 1, Nestle dismissed Laurent Freixe as chief executive officer (CEO) with immediate effect for concealing a romantic relationship with a direct subordinate. "The departure of Laurent Freixe follows an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate, which breached Nestle's code of business conduct," the Swiss food giant said in a statement.

Like Nestle, several multinationals have internal codes of conduct around direct reporting relationships that can result in potential conflict of interest. Such policies require employees to disclose personal ties—whether with family members, spouses, or romantic partners—so that the company can step in and reassign reporting structures.

Several Indian companies have similar safeguards in place, though few were forthcoming about their policies when contacted.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was among the handful to respond. A spokesperson of the fast-moving consumer goods company said: "At HUL, our Code of Business Principles guides how we manage situations that may create potential conflicts of interest... Any potential conflict must be clearly disclosed so it can be appropriately managed."