Top bank issues rules on dealing with opposite sex

A department of China’s largest bank has issued guidelines to its staff on how to interact with co-workers of the opposite gender, a rare move for a firm in China.

The memo sent out by a unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China suggested avoiding physical contact or one-on-one interactions with colleagues of the opposite gender in enclosed spaces and refraining from sending flirtatious emojis in online communications.

China enacted legislation in January that held schools, businesses and other organizations responsible for preventing and dealing with sexual harassment for the first time.

“We should deeply learn lessons from previous events,” said the memo issued by ICBC’s Youth League branch of the Innovation Research and Development Center, which employs less than a hundred employees.

It did not describe the events referred to.

“We’d like to encourage everyone to take the suggestions to ensure personal career development and happiness of the family.”

The memo contained cartoons illustrating what was considered appropriate and what was not. For example, it gave a “green light” of a man discussing fund investments with a female colleague but a “red light” when a woman took the front seat when accepting a ride in a car driven by a male co-worker.