More Than Friends at Work

You’ve begun to notice that two colleagues at work, Cheryl and Michael, are spending an inordinate amount of time together, and you suspect that they may be romantically involved—or at least engaged in a very strong flirtation. They work together on several projects, so it’s natural that they spend a lot of time together, but you—along with a few of your colleagues—are beginning to be annoyed by the amount of time the two spend in one or the other’s office, chatting about personal and other nonwork issues and generally goofing off during working hours. Both of them are beginning to fall behind on their work, and their slacking off is affecting the performance of your entire department. You’ve approached Michael about it, noting that “people are beginning to notice” how much time he spends with Cheryl. They cooled it for a few days after that, but gradually, they returned to their old behavior.

Personally, you don’t have a problem with the two of them having a relationship outside the office. Although the company has a policy requiring employees to disclose any romantic relationships between coworkers, you think the policy is an invasion of privacy and you don’t agree with it at all. But you also know that they’re goofing off is starting to affect their work: both are missing deadlines, forcing others on their team to work harder. Making matters worse, their behavior has become a hot topic of gossip around the water cooler, distracting other members of your team from getting their work done.

You’ve considered speaking to your boss, who works on a different floor and isn’t aware of Cheryl and Michael’s day-to-day behavior, or even talking to human resources about it. But you’re reluctant to “rat them out,” especially because you’re not even sure that the two are actually romantically involved. What should you do?