Should Co-Workers Date?

Working closely together five days a week can definitely cause some enviable heat to ignite between certain co-workers. Sometimes it’s a true chemistry that causes two people to be attracted to each other. It can also be due to loneliness at home, which can actually happen whether the person is single or married. In fact, many times marital problems are the root cause of office romances and affairs. Then, there are times when two people are drawn to each other and just happen to work at the same place.

To start with, the subject of affairs needs to be addressed because these are always very bad ideas, particularly between two married co-workers. Even worse is the idea of an affair between boss and staff member. These NEVER end well, and when they do, as they WILL, there will be at least one person out of a job. On occasion, both boss and staff member can be joining the ranks of the unemployed. If you’re that staff member and are flattered by the attentions of your boss, please keep things on a professional level, for your own good.

Married co-workers should never engage in anything romantic. They can be friends and enjoy each other’s company, but they should never take that fatal step of going over the line and falling into bed together. When the spouses find out, and never doubt that they will, things will begin to crumble for both of the people that were unfaithful. Actually, there are at least four people in that scenario that can be hurt.

Then, there are those couples that simply feel drawn to each other and probably would be attracted to each other no matter how they met. This connection isn’t necessarily a bad one, but it can be a tricky one. That’s because these couples may be in a budding relationship that shouldn’t be tested by the dangers of being together TOO much. What happens when the two of you have an argument? Something like that can easily have a huge effect on the quality of work that the two of you deliver at work while the argument lasts.

Something else to think about is the amount of time you’ll be spending with each other. If you just work for the same company, chances are good that you will be working in separate offices and will only see each other during breaks and at lunch. An arrangement like that doesn’t put as much stress on a relationship as working in the same office a desk or two apart from each other. Just working in the same building can actually enhance a romantic relationship. You can always meet at lunch for a sandwich and a quickie to really spice things up.

On the other hand, if you do work in the same office, it may be beneficial to the relationship for one of you to try to transfer to another office or department in the company. Some couples make a professional and personal relationship work out nicely. If you follow some common sense ground rules, it may work out that way for you, too.