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January 12, 2006

People Often Enjoy Sleeping with Co-Workers, But Get Little Support when Doing So

An interesting piece from the Independent UK detailing a study in Britain recommending that companies find ways to support people who have affairs with co-workers. Chantal Gaultier, the researcher, "found that while the employees said that their productivity had not been affected during the affair, all admitted that their workplace performance had decreased after their romance broke up." Ms. Gaultier goes on to conclude that "Although all of the couples split up, none of them regretted the affairs. Most said they would do it again if the occasion arose. While some of them were married, they did not express feelings of guilt, which shows the fact that people are going to be having these romances whatever companies do.

"The problem is that, after the split, these people often have to work together and see each other every day. This can have problems especially when there is no support or help for them from their employers."

I admit to dating a co-worker or two, and no one at work helped me out.... I can't really think what I would have wanted my employer to do, but then again, certain circumstances meant that the stakes weren't very high. However, I can think of one time when one coworker dated another coworker and it ended badly, and the employer really made things worse.... Most places have some sort of policy about how to deal with sexual harassment, but I think some sort of sensible policy that recognizes that dating does not always equal sexual harassment, would be in order.

Posted by holly at January 12, 2006 8:34 AM