Dear Ritu,
If some office staff has reported unwanted affectionate play in the office then ask for a written application from the individual. The length of the service of the individual does not matter. Just because the matter was reported by a recently-joined employee does not reduce the gravity of the problem. Please do not look at the length of the service of the person who has brought this to your notice or his/her designation. If the person is hesitant to submit a written application, then do not force him/her to do that but note down the following details:
a) Who is involved in the "Public Display of Affection" (PDA)? Is it restricted to only two individuals or many are there?
b) How many instances the newly joined employee has observed? How frequently this happens in a day?
c) Does the reporting manager know the sexual overtures of the couple?
Before telling that person to submit a written application, discuss the matter with the senior authority. Obtain his/her views. If he/she says to acquiesce, then better to keep quiet. However, there is a risk of keeping quiet too. Today's case of so-called affectation may turn out the case of sexual harassment tomorrow. In future, if a woman files a case of sexual harassment, it will increase her headache.
If you receive the go-ahead from the senior authority, then try to find out the merit of the incident on your own. Find out whether the closeness between two persons is owing to the work requirements or has an undertone of sexual attraction.
Once satisfied with their activities, you may call the couple in your office. Counsel them on maintaining propriety in manners and conduct at the workplace. Tell them that the workplace is not a private place per se. Therefore, such acts are forbidden in the workplace. Secondly, obsession with the team member of the opposite sex could increase their job-errors. Maintaining a discreet distance between the persons of the opposite sex is a general norm and they must observe it meticulously. If the couple starts denying their involvement, then tell them you have called them after sufficient investigation.
Handle the counselling only if you are competent to do so. Please make a note that a longer length of service does not make a person a counsellor. "Counselling skills" are independent skills and these need to be learnt systematically.
You have asked whether you can "terminate this new joinee". If you do that then it would be a grave injustice against that person. Far from termination, you should be thankful to that person. If you start shooting down a messenger, then who will inform you what is going on on the shop floor?
In modern workplaces, love could bloom but what is important is to avoid the display of love in the office premises. In their personal capacity and that too in a private place, let the couple do what they wish to do. But the workplace cannot be used by the employees to satiate their prurience.
Problems of this kind arise because it appears that you do not have a "Policy on Workplace Romance". Prepare the policy on this subject and circulate it immediately to all the office members. When an employee joins an organisation, make him/her read this policy.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar