An office romance, work romance, or corporate affair is a romance that occurs between two people who work together in the same office, work location, or business. It tends to breach nonfraternization policies and is a foreseeable business expense. The relationship between affair partners at work can be as wide as intern and president; company CEO and member of the board; supervisor and supervisee; company representative and client; boss and secretary, and so on. And it can be between peers or colleagues at the same level in the organization. It can concurrently or after the fact come to be interpreted as sexual harassment. Intra-office romance between an executive and an employee can presage sexual harassment claims, to which email records bear witness.
Office romances are generally believed to be unhelpful to the welfare and effectiveness of the business and to the network of relationships that comprise it. They contain the potential for abuse, alliance, and distraction. Thus they are discouraged and even prohibited in some company policy. Describing an office relationship as a romance can be cover for a form of workplace bullying.
The suspicion that an advantage is gained by 'sleeping with the boss' in a competitive environment ensures that these transactions occur by stealth. To have a powerful influence on the opportunities placed in one's path, one does not have to engage in sexual intercourse. A special relationship could be enough to gain leverage where business opportunities are in short supply. This fuzzy boundary can be nuanced by practiced players in order to provide deniability when required. Neither does one have to be directly involved in the affair for the knowledge of it to be useful currency — discretion in exchange for advantage.
Office affairs may involve a power differential in both heterosexual and same sex liaisons. If the affair ends badly it is almost always the least powerful who gives up their job and the more powerful who stays or gets promoted out of the area as a solution.[citation needed] Increasingly employers will insert office romance disclosure clauses in employment contracts. Where the affair or its non-disclosure is in breach of that contract, the clandestine edge is heightened. Perversely this can increase both the excitement of the affair and the later damage to collegiate relationships and the company's good name. A witch hunt can ensue.
Incidence
In its 2003 nationwide survey Vault found that 47 percent of workers have participated in an office romance and an additional 19 percent would be willing to do so if the opportunity arose. Vault's 2003 Office Romance Survey is based on responses from over 1,000 professionals at companies nationwide. In addition, 13 percent of respondents said their employer had a policy regarding office dating, 51 percent said their company has no policy, and 36 percent said they didn't know whether one existed. When asked to comment about romance in the workplace, respondents replied:
- "Office romance is bound to happen. If you have people sharing common interests (work) + extended time together (40 hrs) + physical attraction = a perfect match."
- "Nothing wrong with office romance and it is actually a good thing, because I look forward to going to work to see my crush. I think that the consulting industry has the highest rate of office romance because you're constantly out on the road, and it can get pretty lonely."
- "Where else can you really see what somebody is like on a day-to-day basis? Usually office behavior/personality carries over to the private life. If someone is courteous, understanding, outgoing, etc, they will be that way in a romantic relationship as well and you typically spend 8-12 hours at work and it is a very good way to get to know someone."
- "When you work 80 hours per week, it is sometimes hard to meet anyone. You spend all your time in the office."
Few companies have a defined policy against office romance according to the 2006 Workplace Romance survey of 493 HR professionals and 408 employees by the Society for Human Resource Management. Only 9% of those surveyed prohibit dating among employees, and more than 70% of organizations have no formal written or verbal policies about office romance. Some writers argue that the cost of having a formal policy may outweigh the benefits, as inevitable fraternization will be driven underground. The most common and legally enforceable policy states that supervisors cannot date employees within their direct chain of command.
An office romance is usually a breach of either formal or informal fraternization policies. It has been studied as an operation of power dynamics in romantic incubator relationships. Working closely with or living near someone and forming a romantic relationships may incubate romance through the propinquity effect. It evolves from collegiate relationship to limerence quickly and covertly - sometimes this is described as 'having a crush.' Affairs begin one conversation at a time, often without either party admitting to themselves that they intend a deeper connection. 'It just happened' may be the subsequent claim. In fact, the time between a so-called innocent beginning and the first kiss is usually considerable, but the time between that kiss and sexual intercourse is usually short. People involved in this way can appear to themselves to have landed in trouble very quickly, when in fact there was a slow fuse burning long before ignition.
The process of disengaging an office affair requires careful and non-punitive examination at every level of the organization in order to understand affair dynamics at work. That will assist in preventing breaches of employment contracts where that is possible. The challenges of that process suggest the value of family friendly employment conditions.
