24% staff admit to an office romance

With Valentine’s just a few days away, the number of office romances taking place may soon come to light.

That’s because one in four employees have admitted to having a romantic encounter at work.

This is according to research carried out by legal experts at Wright Hassall, who surveyed 2,000 Brits to discover how many romantic relationships have occurred in the workplace.

Of those who admitted to having a romantic encounter at work, 27.6% were male while 21.5% were female.

It seems that work parties also contributed to employees becoming romantically involved with a colleague, as 14.8% of respondents admitted to having a romantic tryst at such an event.

13% also revealed that they have had an affair with a work colleague, with 14.3% being male and 11.2% being female.

Plus, of those sharing that they have had a romantic relationship at work, 29.1% were between the ages of 45 and 54, which was more than any other age group.

The data also uncovered a divide regionally, with over a third based in the West Midlands stating that they had been involved with someone from work.

These figures contrast with employees based in the East Midlands, where just 12% of workers shared that they had taken part in an office romance.

With many employees seemingly comfortable with embarking on a relationship with a co-worker, Tina Chander, head of employment law at Wright Hassall, has pointed out that there are several legal and HR implications that organisations could face.

She explained: “Firstly, an office romance can have implications on the productivity in the workplace, not just for the people involved, but for the wider staff too, as rumours and gossip spread, leading to wasted time and potentially complaints of favouritism being shown too.

“But there can be much more serious issues to come out of workplace romances too, such as sexual harassment claims, which is why it’s so important that you’re aware of any budding relationships.”

Chander added that when it comes down to the legality of an office romance, employers cannot stop their workers from starting a relationship.

The legal expert noted that to do so would be a breach of their human rights under the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998.

Chander stated that this “guarantees employees a right to privacy and in truth, the relationship is still likely to develop away from the office without your knowledge anyway”.

“Instead, you need to ensure that any romances that do occur (and according to our survey, they are happening) are doing so responsibly and that all sides are properly protected,” she advised.

To tackle this, introducing a workplace policy that explains the rules regards workplace romances could help to mitigate any issues, which Chander said should be written into employee contracts and any staff handbooks or similar documents.

In addition, a strong sexual harassment policy and clear procedures should also be in place to ensure a business can handle any potential complains if a relationship breaks down.

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