Human Resources has told an employee they cannot have lunch with another specific employee. Is this legal?

Oh my goodness. What would be the reason? Do they act up when together? I would not support such a directive. A bank really can't tell me who my friends are.

Wouldn't it make more sense to address the underlying issue than start telling people with whom they can spend time at lunch?

The only possible rational reason I can think of is for department coverage reasons (like two tellers going at the same time and leaving one teller to man the whole lobby). Without a business reason, I don't see how HR could get away with this.

I agree it would need to be for a specific business reason like manimal stated.

Thanks for your replys. it is not a coverage issue, it is a branch manager who is being told she cannot have lunch with one of the tellers because she is showing favoritism. I didn't think that HR would have the authority to enforce such a practice.

Have their been complaints? Is the manager buying lunch for the teller on a corporate card? Or is the HR person just saying this because of his or her own opinion?

Only the branch manager and the teller have a dog in this hunt. Why should it matter to anyone else?

if favoritism begins to be shown in reviews, pay, treatment, that is different. But lunch?

IMO, this is something the branch manager and the teller need to consider and have responsibility for.

I was friends with my manager but we did things outside of work. We were very careful not to let our friendship fall over into our work as we knew it could be viewed by others as favoritism. I did get promotions but the promotions were earned and my coworkers recognized that.

I don't think they should not be restricted by HR from having lunch together. If it becomes an issue, the manager will have to live with whatever consequences arise from her decisions

I wonder if one is male and one is female...

for 3 years, my old boss (female) and i went to lunch 3-4 days a week, and never a word was said. Often it was just the 2 of us, but there were times when others came as well.

flash forward, boss starts working different hours, i start going to lunch earlier, so a supervisor that worked for me and i started going to lunch together (female) on more or less the same 3-4 days per week schedule, often just us, but others went as well...

Suddenly i'm in the CEO's office that i should watch whom i go to lunch with because rumors may start concerning favoritism and infidelity. I asked why those rumors weren't a concern for the past 3 years when i went with my boss...or why it was not a problem for the CEO who took his secretary to lunch 3-4 days per week, and one of the ladies from marketing the other days.

I never received a satisfactory answer, but also didn't alter my lunch plans...

Can HR tell an employee this? Yes. Is it enforceable and legal? That is a question for an attorney. Assuming they are going to lunch offsite, simple solution is each to drive there own vehicle and meet somewhere, then no one knows if they went together or not.