10
February
2006
|
06:35 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Sex and dating - in the workplace

Fun if you can get away with it :-)


Kay Luo from Simply Hired offers these tips for the office Romeo and Juliet...


Top 10 Rules for Safe Sex in the Workplace

1. Know the rules

Before even entertaining the thought of wooing a co-worker, check your company’s employee handbook. If the rules say no inter-office dating and you want to keep your job, keep your thoughts – and your hands - to yourself.


Survey says: 35% of people have fantasized about a co-worker.


2. Know your co-worker


Get to know your co-worker before pursuing a romantic relationship. Make sure s/he’s single, not one to kiss and tell, and most importantly, not related to your boss.


Survey says: 6% of people have dated a relative of a co-worker.


3. No means no.


She Loves You Not? If you ask a co-worker out and she/he says no, that’s it. Game over, do not pass go. Do not ask again, do not sulk, do not make further references to the encounter, jokes or innuendos, Clarence.


Survey says: 16% of men and 5% of women say they’ve been rejected by a co-worker


4. Create a workplace prenup


Before moving forward in a relationship, have a candid conversation about what might happen if things go south. Be aware of any potential consequences to your career before starting a relationship and agree on boundaries and expectations.


Survey says: 5% of people said that romantic relations with a co-worker made work uncomfortable


5. Don’t fish in your boss’s pond


If your new “love bunny” in the same department as you do, be prepared to change departments or tell your boss.


6. Date up, not down


If you have a choice, it’s always safer dating someone above you. You may get fired, but at least you won’t get slapped with a sexual harassment suit. And on that note…tempting as it may be, stay clear of temps. Contractors, consultants, and interns can all spell trouble, Mr. President. Just because they don't work for your company full-time doesn't mean that the rules of the game are any different when it comes to dating these folks (at least while they're under your roof).


Survey says: 7% of men and 11% of women have dated a boss or superior


7. Keep your privates private


Don’t gab about your new romance. Love in the workplace becomes dangerous when it’s out in the open for others to scrutinize. No flirting, furtive glances in the elevator or taps on the derriere. People catch on to these cues.


Survey says: 9% of people said that romantic relations with a co-worker resulted in office gossip


8. Use Hotmail for hot mail


This may seem obvious, but plenty of people disregard it. Never use company email to exchange love notes or anything remotely suggestive. Companies can and do monitor email exchanges. If you must profess your undying affection while at work, use a private web-based email service like Yahoo or Hotmail.


9. Don’t drink and date


Be wary of office parties and more than 2 drinks. Too many careers have been killed when people have dropped their guard at an office party.


10. Your Office or Mine? NEITHER.


C’mon people, get a room. Don’t have sex or “sexual relations” in the office. Period.


Survey says: 16% of men and 7% of women reported having sex in the office.



Win a Trip to “Sin City”




The Simply Fired Contest will challenge site visitors to submit their funniest, saddest, most outrageous stories about workplace romance. Simply Fired judges will select a Grand Prize “Loser” who will win a trip for two to Las Vegas.


The winner and a guest will be flown to Las Vegas, where they will stay in a honeymoon suite in the Paris hotel. For more details visit: www.SimplyFired.com.



About the Love In the Workplace Survey


Simply Fired’s annual Love in the Workplace Survey was conducted online in February 2006 by Harris Interactive. Harris Interactive is a leading market research firm most widely known for The Harris Poll® and for its pioneering leadership in the online market research industry. Sample size was 2477 respondents and was weighted to the U.S. general adult population.


About Simply Fired


Simply Fired (www.SimplyFired.com) is operated by Simply Hired (www.SimplyHired.com) operates the world's largest search engine for jobs. We aggregate and index over 4,000,000 jobs from a wide variety of sources including job boards, newspapers, classified listings, and company websites. Our mission is to help people find their next job in the simplest, most effective way possible.


Simply Hired is a privately held company, headquartered in Mountain View, California. SimplyHired.com was selected by Time magazine as one of the "50 Coolest Websites 2005" and honored as "Best of the Web" by Business Week.