Office Romance: A Fatal Attraction?



No, these two aren't dancing. Think a little dirtier.


Having spent six years in a firm where a majority of its employees are aged between their early 20s and 30s, not married, and where a culture of working late into the night amongst a band of closely knitted team mates, bonded by their fight against oppressive deadlines and incomprehensible purported work documents, I have seen my fair share of office romances and scandals.

Even though, I am a firm believer that one's civil liberties to romance anyone their heart (or loins) desire should not be infringed upon by office policies, there are certain limitations and safeguards that should be in place. An office relationship, if done appropriately, need not be fatal to either the romance or one's careers.

For example, a relationship of supervisory-subordinate nature (also known as the "Hierarchical Workplace Romance") should be transparent, although affections should not be publicly displayed.

Upon the formation of on office relationship, higher management should be notified. If conflict of interest arises due to such relationship, either party of the relationship should be transferred to another department immediately to prevent accusations and perceptions among others of sexual favouritism or bias, especially in areas of salary increments, bonuses or promotions.

If a hierarchical workplace romance is kept hidden, and during the affair the lower ranked partner in the relationship was promoted or obtained a favourable performance appraisal, other colleagues may have sound basis to lodge complains to the company's ethical committee or a court of law, should the truth about the relationship surfaces, even if the promotion or appraisal was given based on actual successes of the employee.

A hopeless romantic will say that we cannot choose who we love, but we have the free will to determine who we tell about it. Do not be foolish to think that a workplace romance can be completely kept hidden from your colleagues or bosses infinitely. The consequences of concealment will be far more painful than being public about the relationship right from the get-go.

An article in International Journal Business Research analyses the various aspect of office romance:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/International-Journal-Business-Research/178900240.html

(Authors note: The above advice does not take into account extra-marital affair, in which case, shame on you!)