Workplace taboos

Sleeping, kissing and boozing, oh my

There's more than working going on in the workplace, according to a new survey.

A survey of 5,700 workers by online job site CareerBuilder.com found nearly one-half (45 per cent) of workers admit to falling asleep on the job, while 21 per cent admit to putting something stronger than coffee in their mugs.

"As companies continue to embrace more casual environments, employees may develop a false sense of informality when it comes to the office behaviour," said Rosemary Haefner, vice-president of HR at CareerBuilder.com.

"Employees should make sure they are aware of company policies, so something that initially seems 'harmless' doesn't end up negatively impacting a career."

The most common workplace taboos

• Falling asleep at work (45 per cent)

• Kissing a co-worker (39 per cent)

• Consuming alcoholic beverages while on the job (21 per cent)

• Stealing from the office (22 per cent)

• Spreading a rumour about a co-worker (22 per cent)

• Snooping after hours (18 per cent)

• Lying about an academic background (four per cent)

• Taking credit for someone else's work (two per cent)

Who is most likely to commit workplace taboos?

Men report that they engage in all of these workplace taboos more than women. For instance, nearly one-half (49 per cent) of men have fallen asleep on the job compared 35 per cent of women. When it comes to kissing co-workers, 44 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women admitted to puckering up.

The survey has a sampling error of +/-1.3 percentage points.

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