Your Office or Mine?
Banning Sex in the Workplace
By Daniel Muniz

It boggles the mind about what sometimes goes on in offices, closets, stairways, parking garages and parking lots, and even inside bathroom stalls at the workplace during and after business hours. And it is also amazing about the incredible risk that such people are willing to take if their trysts are ever discovered. Unless you are Bill Clinton, more than likely you are probably going to get fired.

But that risk hasn’t really stopped anyone.

Not even the past histories of previous employees who have been fired because of such encounters are really much of a deterrent to employees. In fact, perhaps it is the thrill of sneaking around while avoiding getting caught that may add to the adrenalin of immature reckless people who embark on their escapades at the workplace.

Consequently, the larger the employer and the more people confined to a single area or building, the more of a likelihood of consenting employees who want to live out their adolescent impulses.

One very large mortgage bank I worked at always seemed to have problems with that.

The company was located in a single multi-story building that occupied nearly all of the floors. It also had a parking garage with several levels which also provided plenty of shadowy nooks and crannies. And since the bank was always expanding the size of its workforce, there seemed to be a plethora of vacant corridors and empty rooms which became fertile playgrounds for the brief rendezvous’ that often took place.

And at the time, that employer also had several hundred employees at that one location, which comprised of a cross-section of ages, professions, skills, and backgrounds (two floors covered Information Technology, one floor for customer service, etc.).

A few times out of the year, there were always people “caught in the act” which terminated their employment.

There was even an incident that involved a few couples at the same time in a staircase.
 

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Another time, a pair of women went to the top floor of the building which was occupied by several small businesses instead of by the mortgage bank. They naively assumed that none of the tenants on that floor would care or even bother to do anything about it if they were discovered. And they also thought that they were “away” from the physical boundaries of the workplace. During a break, the women went into the bathroom stall of the ladies room and did their thing.

Unbeknownst to both of them, an evangelical Christian radio station had their offices up there. The station employees were furious and immediately contacted building security. In addition, both women were also unaware that the mortgage bank also “owned” the entire building. They were immediately fired.

I will stop here with my examples even though the list can go on for quite a while. And I am certain that number of readers have their own stories about co-workers.

Perhaps what surprises me the most is that every place I have ever worked at never explicitly forbade such escapades even though the “discovered” encounters have constantly been a source of embarrassment.

A few companies do have policies about dating in the workplace although most of my employers have actually encouraged relationships in the office. That very same mortgage bank I worked for had a number of married couples. They didn’t work in the same department but many were employed in the same division. And a lot of them had even met while being on the job.

Almost all of my employers have been gravely serious about combating “sexual harassment” which is a good thing. However, some companies felt that having sex in the workplace was an implicit extension of existing policies.

Some of my previous employers had vague policies of integrity, which covers just about anything kind of inappropriate behavior. But such policies are vague which is what probably renders their value to the point of being almost ineffective.

As a result, too many companies are either too embarrassed or too naďve to blatantly address the issue.

Certain experts contend that many trysts are the result of peculiar circumstances although the obvious reason is often immaturity and recklessness. These individuals can do it in the privacy of their own home without the risk of getting fired or suffering from any other negative consequences (although they miss out on the adolescent thrill).

But another category consists of people who are unable to do it at home. That is because they are married or living with someone. Even if their home or apartment is empty, they don’t want their neighbors to see them or leave any possible clues behind for their significant other to discover.

Why can’t people just get a motel?

Many do, including the married ones, but that involves a bit of planning which robs the spontaneity of the moment. The “here and now” is probably the impetus for the ones that are unable to go to their own homes.

But if companies want to stop most of this nefarious activity, they have to be blatant and unequivocal with their employees from the very beginning and reinforce it on a timely basis. Although certain people may feel that this is a common sense subject that employees should already know, such an understanding is not necessarily the case.

Overall, employers also have to get over the embarrassment of this topic. It took time for many corporations to get proficient with combating sexual harassment thus combating sex in the workplace may also take a concerted effort. But if companies want to avoid the dilemma that these problems presents, then they have to get serious implanting policies and letting people that such behavior is inappropriate and unacceptable at the workplace.

However, the best suggestion is for people to behave like adults and take their romance somewhere else.

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