This Domain For Sale. Contact us for more information.

A Workplace Romance Can Be Detrimental to Your Career

Over 70% of single employees will become romantically involved with someone they work with at some point in their career. The workplace has become the new single's bar. The workplace has also become the number one place for cheating spouses to meet affair partners and conduct extramarital affairs.

Proceed with caution if you're attracted to someone on your job and are considering engaging in a workplace romance. As tempting as it may be to date someone from work, the risks far outweigh the rewards. An office romance could cause you legal problems, public embarrassment, and could be detrimental to your career.

Legal Complications

If your workplace lover becomes involved in a corporate scandal, you could be named as an accomplice, or hauled into court as a government witness. Consider the examples below:

• U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, the judge in the trial of ex-WorldCom chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers, ruled that star witness Scott Sullivan can be questioned about his marital infidelity because it speaks to his character for truthfulness.

• Book publisher Judith Regan may be forced to testify about her affair with Bernard Kerik who withdrew his name from Homeland Security nominee in the midst of numerous allegations of personal and professional improprieties.

• Testimony from three former mistresses helped put Nathan Chapman away for 7 ½ years for defrauding Maryland's state pension fund system and looting his three publicly traded companies.

These are just three of the recent examples of how a workplace romance can become public knowledge, much to the embarrassment of those involved.

In addition, males in supervisory positions who become romantically involved with female subordinates run the risk of becoming the subject of a sexual-harassment suit if the woman later claims to have been coerced or pressured into the relationship for fear of her job. For that reason many companies now forbid romance between bosses and subordinates. Others companies require persons who are romantically involved to sign consensual relationship agreements - also known as "love contracts" - which state that the relationship is voluntary.

Career Complications

Aside from legal issues, if you're tempted to date your boss, consider the negative impact a workplace romance could have on your career. If the romance ends badly, some very unpleasant things can occur. Your ex-lover has the ability to undermine your career in ways you can't even begin to imagine. Why take a chance?

Below are some of the day-to-day and long-range career complications that can result from a workplace romance:

• Envious co-workers may become jealous and attempt to sabotage your work.

• Your productivity or the productivity of those around you may suffer.

• You could become the subject of office gossip

• If your office romance results in preferential treatment with regard to work assignments, raises, promotions or company perks your co-workers will resentment you.

• A series of office romances will earn you a reputation as someone who tries to sleep their way to the top.

• You may be transferred to another department or even required to leave the company, especially if you are a woman. When an office affair becomes a problem, it's usually the woman who is penalized.

• It could create an awkward situation when the romance ends, and the two of you still have to work together.

• If you end the relationship and the other person is vindictive, they can sabotage your career in ways you can't even begin to imagine.

• A disgruntled lover can negatively influence the kind of work assignments, raises, and opportunities for advancement you receive.

• Your coworkers' perception of your work performance may be lowered.

• No matter how hard you work, there will always be speculation about whether or not your raise or your promotion was a reward for sexual favors.

If you're currently involved in a workplace romance, or you're tempted to get involved in one despite the warnings, do your utmost to keep things on a professional level. There are guidelines to help you minimize any possible damage to your career. To receive a copy of the tip sheet "How to Keep Your Office Romance on a Professional Level", send an e-mail to InfidelityInfo@gmail.com with "Office Romance" in the subject line.

About Ruth Houston:

Infidelity expert Ruth Houston is the author of Is He Cheating on You?- 829 Telltale Signs, a comprehensive guide which documents practically every known sign of infidelity. She has been quoted in the New York Times, the Toronto Sun, Cosmopolitan and numerous other publications; and has been a guest on over 100 radio and TV talk shows in the US, Europe, the Caribbean and South America. For more information, visit her website http://www.InfidelityAdvice.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Careers & Employment Information:

Career Transitions: Creating Complementary Careers in a Day
Down-sized? Outsourced? Burned-out? Wizened up? That's what I said. Wizened up! Now is not the time to be depressed.

An RX For Your Résumé
Whether you are an accountant, virtual assistant, or a corporate executive, your job skills are constantly refined. A new sales presentation you've organized or the new spreadsheet package you've mastered should be included on your résumé.

Considering a Career Change?
Are you thinking about a career change? Many people do this because of specific problems or difficulties. Others want to make such a change because of some growing, generalized dissatisfaction.

Building a Solid Network
A client who has a fine arts degree wanted to move out of his successful career in advertising and into the real estate development business. He had already enrolled in a top notch MBA program to learn more about the field.

Finding Employees For Insurance Industry Jobs
Finding the right employee for any job opening can be a challenge to say the least, and this is no truer than in the insurance industry. With considerations ranging from experience and education to their personal skills, the decisions faced by recruiters and employers can be of critical importance.

How to Be Prepared for a Layoff
If you are concerned that your company might be planning a layoff, your best course of action is to be prepared. Employees often see warning signs that their jobs may be at risk.

Resumes and First impressions
Hunting for a position in a new career field? Trying to take your new education or skills and transform them into a job with a future?I've spent the last few weeks working in a placement service trying to help people find that first "career" job; trying to help them make the transition from student to employee. I see the same mistakes over and over again.

How to Become a Real Estate Agent
If you're wondering how to become a real estate agent, the basic process is fairly simple, although it does vary a lot from state to state..

The 5 Ps Of A Job Search
Step One - Plan:Most people spend more time planning a one to two week vacation than they do planning their lifetime career. When planning for a vacation, you look at where you want to go, what your reason is for wanting to go to that particular place, how long it will take to get there, whether or not you want to take any side trips, what type of budget you will need, and what type of clothes you will need to take.

How To Tap Into the Invisible Job Market
Is there a company in your area that you'd love to work for? Do you assume that, because you don't see them advertising in the classifieds or posting jobs on their website, they have no openings? That may or may not be the case. That truth is, only about one-fifth of job openings are actually advertised!Here's how to tap into the huge "invisible" job market.

Home Healthcare Careers
One of the fastest growing sectors of the medical industry is that of home health. There are many reasons for this growth, but most important are:The number of aging and infirm citizens in the country.

Career Advice: Are Resumes Obsolete As A Primary Job Search Tool?
In a day of background checks, pre-employment drug screening and multiple interviews, where do resumes fit in? According to many successful job applicants, not very well. An ever-increasing number of new hires say that resumes were not crucial in landing them the job.

Medical Billing And Coding Profession
Medical billers and coders are in high demand among the allied health occupations. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health information technicians are one of the 10 fastest-growing allied health occupations.

What Your Guidance Counselor, Career Counselor, and Own Mother Probably Never Told You...
The alarm clock jars you awake at some insanely early hour. As you hit the snooze button you think, "there's gotta be a better way to make a living.

Dynamic Interviewing Practices
The pre-hiring process can be a challenge. If you're reading this article, you are finished with the pre-hiring process and are looking for tips that will guide you through the interview.

Interview Questions: How To Stump The Interviewer
In the limited time an interviewer has with you, their mission is to know you and assess your worth, especially in relationship to the other candidates interviewed. Asking you questions is the way they accomplish that mission.

A Workplace Romance Can Be Detrimental to Your Career
Over 70% of single employees will become romantically involved with someone they work with at some point in their career. The workplace has become the new single's bar.

How to Write a Simple Job Description
1.0 A timely reminderIn a recent decision in a New South Wales court it was found that an employee was psychologically injured and that contributing factors such as not having a job description and controlling management behaviours were responsible.

10 Steps to Getting the Most Out of Job Fairs
Many job seekers tend to overlook job fairs. They can be crowded, busy, competitive and confusing events.

So, What Do You Do For Work?
I remember being asked this question a lot when I was dissatisfied with my career. My usual strategy would be to give a pat answer and immediately turn the question back on the person who asked it.