Office Relationships – Your Pod or Mine?
It’s a bit of a cliché but offices are something of a hotbed for romance, so much so that the Sunday Times has published a feature advising on office etiquette when it comes to affairs of the heart (conducted over the photocopier).
Perching in a provocative way on the office furniture may not be etiquette in many offices but it seems the office has always been a place of sexual tension. The idea that people sleep their way to the top is an old fashioned one. And yet there can be few offices where eyebrows aren’t raised at certain promotions. It’s true that sexual politics is still a huge subject in many modern day offices.
The fact that statistically, we are more likely to meet our other halves at the office is proof that office relationships can go further than the stationary cupboard. In fact, it’s been guessed that 70% of relationships are formed in the office (including affairs with clients!) with one in six meeting their life partner at work (according to research by the Work Foundation). Of course, working in close proximity is bound to throw up a few liaisons. But the Times concludes that being attractive or using your sexuality disturbingly could be just as crucial in today’s job market as your degree. Because degrees are two a penny, being attractive will give you the edge you may need from the competition. As the Times states: “This isn’t just vanity. Britain in 2010 is a lookist society; image matters.”
High profile business women – or any high profile women – seem to have a personal trainer as the norm. Likewise, successful men enjoy beautiful suits and are increasingly just as obsessed with their body image as women are, hitting the gym several times a week. In America, mixing sexual politics or attractiveness with work can be more problematic. Some companies have introduced ‘love contracts’ to forbid relationships between employers for fear of sexual harassment claims and legal costs or disharmony in the office if the relationships fail.
But of course when it comes to matters of the heart, it isn’t always possible to solve problems in the same way you would solve a health and safety regulation. However the case of a more junior office worker being made redundant by her boss after their affair had ended is an important lesson for HR departments; she won £11,000 for unfair dismissal after a court ruled her boss was holding a grudge against her after their relationship ended.
About Hunts Office Furniture:
Hunts Office Furniture is the most comprehensive online directory of stylish and practical office chairs, desks, workstations, conference tables and reception furniture ranges, available in the UK. Whether you are embarking on an office refurbishment, relocation or revamp we have office furniture solutions for all.