Dear HR, I’ve started dating a colleague in another department, and now people keep making jokes. Do we have to tell HR, or can we keep it private?

First off, congrats on finding love under our corporate fluorescent lights!

I guess there must be quite a number of people who date colleagues. We spend a third of our lives at work, so it’s only natural that we end up meeting people in close quarters.

Now, about your question: technically, no one here is monitoring your love life like it’s an episode of The Office – unless, of course, it becomes office gossip and starts being an issue in the company Teams channel…

Best place to start is checking your employee handbook.

Some companies have policies about office relationships, particularly when it comes to conflicts of interest. For the most part, you won’t find anything too restrictive for your blossoming romance. Unless your pillow talk consists of whispering confidential trade secrets or plotting company domination, HR isn’t interested in the slightest… unless, of course, everyone gets a wedding invite and we don’t!!!

Small word of advice: keep the romance outside the cubicles. Our CCTV cameras weren’t installed to capture that kind of action. Trust me, getting caught with your pants down (literally) might lead to your colleagues laughing for a lot longer than that two-minute meeting in the supply closet.

Also, does this mean we should brace ourselves for a reenactment of the Dirty Dancing lift at the office Christmas party? Because, if you’re going for it, please, for safety’s sake, let us know in advance so we can do a risk assessment beforehand.

It’s simple: be discreet and keep it professional.

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In the brief moments between dealing with HR matters in an office workplace near you, our top-secret professional will be taking the time to share her wisdom and tackle your thorniest workplace dilemmas with her trademark humour and empathy – and just the right amount of sass.

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