Shropshire solicitor says set clear boundaries between work and personal relationships

Paul Bennett, of Bennett’s Legal in Shrewsbury, said people in Shropshire were particularly at risk from personal heartache caused by work-based disputes because the county has so many family-based businesses.

In the popular soap Weatherfield landlady Stella Price is currently battling to repair the reputation of the Rovers Return pub after strained family ties left the famous local at the centre of a fix scandal.

The storyline has seen Stella evict her mother Gloria for secretly forging entries in a pub of the year competition to win the top prize. Her duplicity was exposed at the official presentation with Stella left furious at how the business had been put at risk.

The topic of working with friends has also been explored in Coronation Street. Owner of the café Roy Cropper was landed in hot water with the council after accusations his friend Mary Taylor had sold alcohol at the unlicensed premises during theme nights she had organised at the venue.

Also left fuming Roy banned Mary from the café for good causing irreparable damage to their friendship.

Mr Bennett said today that while Stella, Gloria, Roy and Mary may only be characters in a soap the issues raised were serious ones and that he was regularly dealing with cases in Shropshire where people had fallen out because the lines were blurred between working and personal relationships.

“We are probably dealing with three or four complicated cases a year where people have endured a breakdown in a close relationship because issues which have arisen at work have spilled over into their personal lives and it is very sad,” he added.

“It is important to set clear boundaries when working with family members or close friends. The benefits of working with people you care about are well documented but often the pitfalls are not so clearly defined or even considered when people enter into such arrangements.

“No-one ever wants to think that they would fall out with someone they care about over work but it does happen and we have seen it often particularly among former partners or spouses. “

Mr Bennett warned that it was vital to set out clear working arrangements particularly when a personal relationship needs to co-exist with an employer and employee relationship.

“As in any work environment expectations, responsibilities and conditions of employment need to be addressed, agreed and put down in writing so that everyone is protected and a safeguard is placed around that relationship outside of the workplace. Shropshire has a rich heritage of family businesses and small cottage industries that thrive on employing and working with friends and family. There are many benefits but it is worth facing up to the potential problems to avoid any future heartache.”

But Mr Bennett also pointed out that when disputes do arise it doesn’t need to be as dramatic as a soap storyline.

The firm, at Battlefield Enterprise Park, specialise in workplace mediation and it has proved to be very successful in such situations.

“Underlining what is work and what is personal is often the way forward and this can be done with the support of workplace mediation. It can help to establish or re-introduce those boundaries that maintain a healthy working relationship which is separate to a personal one.”