Finding Cupid in a cubicle

Employers more accepting of workplace romances and staff more willing to sleep with the boss to get promoted

Romance continues to bloom in the office and employers are growing more tolerant about workplace dating, a recent survey found.

About one half of 2,050 workers surveyed by CareerBuilder.com said they have dated a co-worker. But just 37 per cent kept their relationship a secret, down from 46 per cent a year ago.

Workers aren’t just dating peers. Twenty-one per cent admitted they have dated their boss, up from 14 per cent last year. Nearly 40 per cent said they dated someone with a higher position in their organization.

Romance also has career benefits, at least for men. Twenty-five per cent of men who dated the boss said the relationship helped move their careers forward, compared to just 13 per cent of women.

In the United Kingdom, one half of 2,439 employees surveyed said that if a promotion depended on sleeping with their boss, they would agree to the indecent proposal rather than report them.

The survey, by U.K. law firm Peninsula, also found that 69 per cent of employees had an affair at work but two thirds of those relationships didn’t work out.

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