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6 Real AF Reasons Not To Work With Your Significant Other

You can learn a thing or two from "Brooklyn. Blue. Sky."

If you’re like 84 percent of millennials, you think that working with a significant other is no big deal. Sure, there are some pros, like being able to see one another through increasingly long workdays. You could even be thinking dating a co-worker could set you up for a promotion. However, when workplace romance goes wrong. It goes really wrong.

Whether you work in a corporation or partner up creatively like Blue and Sky, hitching your work wagon to someone you have feelings for is a big mistake. Even if you are in total denial of your feelings like those two on Brooklyn. Blue. Sky., there are consequences of working with your lover that you might not even be thinking about when you catch feelings.

BET.com's love expert, Damona Hoffman, breaks down six of them here:

Years later, if you find you collaborate better as workers than as lovers, maybe you can go the route of Blue and Sky and give it a go, but working with your significant other is a bigger risk than you might think, and by trying to juggle both, you might end up without either one. 

Binge-watch BET.com's first scripted original series Brooklyn. Blue. Sky. here.

  1. Harassment Claims

    Want to know why your employer discourages workplace romance? Because they are liable if things go wrong and one partner turns their heartbreak into harassment.

  2. Favoritism

    You might think it’s cute that you’re boo'd up at work, but if you get a promotion or a prime assignment over a co-worker, you can bet they’ll call it favoritism. To avoid making it look suspicious, your partner might even avoid giving you assignments for which you were qualified. Bottom line, don’t date your boss or anyone responsible for your career advancement.

  3. You’ll Take Your Work Home With You

    Considering that 40+ hours of your week is spent at work, when you come home, you probably want to talk about anything but your job. However, if you and your partner know the same people, systems, and challenges, it’s inevitable that work conversations will creep their way into your bedroom. Not sexy!

  4. Your Loss of Freedom

    With the rise of online dating, singles now seek a partner who shares their same interests, hobbies, and sometimes even profession. The key to any great relationship is balance and being able to maintain your individual identity within the partnership. If you work together and play together, you’ll have a harder time keeping your independence.

  5. Your Productivity is Shot

    If you’ve ever had trouble focusing at work when you have a good friend there to text, instant message, and meet at the coffeemaker for a chat, imagine how much harder it would be when you add sexual attraction on top of that. Kiss your productivity goodbye.

  6. Violence

    Dating in the workplace can lead to violence when things don’t end well. Whether it’s through micro-aggression or something more severe, do you really want to put yourself and your co-workers at risk?

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