In the past, office life was considered to be tied only to the financial livelihood of a family. Adults spent time in the office with their co-workers, but rarely associated outside work hours beyond the occasional get together and there was less political significance to how employees associated with their colleagues.

Now, the workplace is becoming a platform for young, busy professionals to meet other single adults. The office has become so enmeshed into daily activity for working singles that they have minimal time to search for and maintain relationships. Employees are finding that their co-workers already share similar bonds, characteristics and needs in their lives, a great stepping stone to healthy social and intimate relationships.

Relationships with co-workers can be tempting since so much time is already spent with that person on a daily basis that the jump from work friendly to intimate is relatively easy.

Although a relationship with someone in the office can have some rewarding moments, there are also some important problems to recognize and confront when making the decision to spend more personal time together.

• Dating the boss: This is a very vulnerable position to put yourself into. Other employees may see you as being favored for special projects, promotions and even with more lax rules for your work time and productivity. If the relationship turns sour there is potential for an ugly confrontation in the workplace that could result in you being fired.


• Dating a subordinate: As a manager or boss, you want to connect with your employees, but spending too much time with your subordinates can cause your judgment to change based on the opinions heard while outside the work environment. It is important to always separate your friendships from your working relationships by having clearly communicated boundaries with each other.


• Dating the colleague: Even though this situation has both parties on even ground in the workplace, ugly arguments can have an affect on the whole team and can cause undue competition between partners.

Co-workers may see you and your colleague as a common friend and it can be difficult to have conversations related to the each other with other co-workers as they may feel like they can't be truly honest with certain information.

In order to protect both your relationship and your employment status if you find yourself in an interoffice situation, here are some valuable preventative measures to remember:
1. Take your time. Gradually increase the time spent with your co worker so you can see how she reacts to different office situations, and how she deals with the responsibility of mingling business with pleasure.
2. Give her a "trust test". Share small pieces of personal or business information with her that aren't harmful to your employment and see if she maintains your confidence. Being able to rely on your mate to be a sounding board for problems that arise at the office is an important piece of personal relationships but can be difficult if there is no trust at work.
3. Be Careful what you say. This goes for any office relationship. Discussing co-workers on a personal level or bad-mouthing associates is never a good idea. Office gossip can spread very quickly and be incredibly damaging to an employee's work life as well as the entire office environment.

Inter-office relationships may not be illegal, but most businesses have policies in place to protect their employees and the company from undue burden created by office relationships. Most companies encourage camaraderie in the workplace in order to form a more cohesive unit, so the line between friendship and dating may be unclear. If you find yourself in a position where your feelings for a co-worker are stronger than what may be admissible, speak to your company HR representative about the business policy and possible repercussions of taking that step towards a more intimate outside relationship.