To Date or Not to Date a Co-worker

Flirting with your colleagues, passing dirty jokes at them, sharing “Hey sexy” greetings with them can be risky. To an extent that it can even cost you your job.

This can be anybody’s story. One fine morning, cupid stroked his best arrow straight to one's heart, nevertheless, one cannot move an inch because of being webbed with either office dating policies or work pressure.

[Read: Office Romance Advice]

And after listening to this piece of news, things just get more alarming. Recently, David Davidar had to quit as CEO of Penguin Canada after being charged with sexual harassment. Now, the only question which is ringing in the official corridors is what exactly is to be read between the lines when it comes to officially-appropriate behaviour.

“Agreed! We spend 40 to 60 percent of our life in an office. Work place dating and romance has become more or less a universal phenomenon,” says HR professional Amit Mathur. “But the catch is how sexual harassment rules and regulations of many of the organisations these days are so subtlety stated that everyone’s job is at risk”, he adds.

“Be alert when identifying signals of a strong attraction”, warns Sashi Raut, a 29 year old media professional. One must be genuinely convinced that his or her co-worker is interested in them; else you may found yourself in hot soup.

The line in being a harmless flirt and coming across as a cheap, attention-hogging wannabe must be given a thought.

[Read: Can Office Romance get you Fired?]

One can encounter a sea of troubles once they start an office romance. It is people with a strong personality who can successfully date a co-worker. “It is advisable to be ready in order to fight the odds such as- office gossip, fear of blackmail and other general tempest of official affair,” says Dr Pulkit Sharma, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at VIMHANS.

“Just maintain maturity and collar up your self confidence for that completely professional workplace affair”, exclaims Dr Sharma.

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Image source: Sakhi