diff --git a/addons/hr/hr.py b/addons/hr/hr.py
index a2c4ee3805b..51ec40bc67e 100644
--- a/addons/hr/hr.py
+++ b/addons/hr/hr.py
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ class hr_employee(osv.osv):
     _defaults = {
         'active': 1,
         'photo': _get_photo,
-        'address_id': lambda self, cr, uid, c: self.pool.get('res.users').browse(cr, uid, uid, c).address_id.id
+        'address_id': lambda self, cr, uid, c: self.pool.get('res.users').browse(cr, uid, uid, c).address_id.id,
+        'marital': 'single',
     }
 
     def _check_recursion(self, cr, uid, ids, context=None):