Rules for Dating Your Co-Worker Without Getting Fired
Master the balancing act of keeping both your job and relationship intact
There’s no better example of a workplace romance than The Office — or, should we say, workplace romances, plural. Forget Jim and Pam (although many office relationships do end in marriage). Between Dwight and Angela, Andy and Angela, Michael and Jan, Michael and Holly, Andy and Erin, Gabe and Erin, and that one intern and Erin, the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company could put the sexed-up stars of your average soap opera to shame.
If anything from the show is true to life, it’s the depiction of the complications of office relationships, whether they’re clandestine or out in the open. And yes, they really are that common: According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 36 percent of people have dated a co-worker, 30 percent have dated a superior, and 22 percent have had an office romance with their manager or direct boss.
On some level, it’s understandable why people would be inclined to date their co-workers. “Colleagues start with something huge in common, which is the work,” says Susan Heathfield, a management and organization development consultant. “They tend to be educated about the same, and they tend to be within driving distance.” Those logistics can make or break a…
