Signs coworkers are dating

The devastating awkwardness of figuring out if you should kiss each other good-bye.

As your relationship begins to blossom like two flowers in the same garden that are dating each other, you have to start making choices that will affect you the rest of your lives (or until you break up and/or one of you quits).

Dana Brownlee, president of professional training development company Professionalism Matters, advises against initiating a romance with your manager, or, likewise, with anyone who reports to you directly or indirectly."If you're a manager, you should be held to a higher standard," she says.

"You're creating a climate where people are going to see bias whether there really is bias or not."Relationships with your peers are generally more acceptable—assuming they're unhitched.

After firing CEO Dov Charney last month, American Apparel decided to update its company code of ethics with stricter guidelines regarding interoffice relationships.

According to the new policy, “No management-level employee may make sexual advances, welcome or unwelcome, toward any subordinate.”Considering Charney’s time with the company was riddled with allegations of sexual harassment, it’s no surprise that the company wants to take a more conservative approach to fraternization.

But here’s the thing: Whether or not there are policies forbidding them, office relationships happen.

Before making moony eyes at a co-worker: Think of the situation in the same way you would if you were about to hit on a bartender at your favorite local bar: Am I prepared to drink elsewhere if it all goes pear-shaped?

A stunning 20% of people who told Career Builder that they had dated someone at the office admitted that at least one person in the relationship was married.

Perhaps that makes sense given the amount of time we spend at work: In an office relationship, you can relate to the struggles someone faces from 9 to 5, says Brownlee.

And a whopping 31% of office relationships result in marriage—meaning they can't always be a bad idea, right?

Here's how to make sure pursuing love won't cost you your job: Avoid Getting Involved with the Wrong Person According to the Career Builder survey, 24% of intra-office relationships were with someone higher up in the organization.