As employees spend more time at work, office romances remain a strong presence in companies throughout the United States. A 2006 Workplace Romance Study by the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com found that 40 percent of employees polled had been romantically involved with another employee at some time during their employment. Despite the strong prevalence of office romances, the same study revealed that more than 70 percent of companies did not have a formal policy regarding workplace romances; only 9 percent of responding companies banned relationships among its employees outright.
The numbers reported in the study illustrate the dilemma faced by employers. Short of banning office romances entirely, which is a difficult policy to enforce and undesirable in most workplaces, employers that become aware of an office romance might still need to take steps in an attempt to avoid liability.
