If you want an example of corporate bone-headedness, look no further than the trend toward "love contracts," where companies require employees to sign legal agreements when they inconveniently begin romantic relationships with folks who happen to be employees of the firm. The idea is that once you've signed a contract specifying that the romance is consensual, the company is no longer liable for issues that might arise from the relationship.

This is one of those examples of a committee sitting around the conference room just long enough to arrive at the worst possible solution to the problem (the problem being sexual-harassment charges). For one thing, a person who signs a contract affirming the consensual nature of a relationship might balk at having to head back to HR to revoke that agreement a few weeks later. Besides that, a boss could make hiring or pay decisions based on being attracted to a subordinate, and there's no contract that will solve that problem. In any case, love contracts are intrusive and create as many problems as they solve. They represent the worst of corporate silliness, which is why they've made our list of the 10 Worst Corporate Practices this year, with some very good company. Read on!