Kaylene recently married after having a workplace romance with her now-husband Matt.  Since being married, the couple have continued working together although they don't work in the same department.

However being married to a work colleague does raise a few issues.  Firstly, there's the impact of working together on the relationship.  And secondly, there's the impact of their relationship on their work and their work colleagues.

Since getting married, one thing has changed.  When Kaylene and Matt worked together and were dating, they still had some time apart.  Now they work together, live together and spend all weekend together.  Is that healthy in a relationship?  On the plus side, they really understand each others' work issues and stresses, and can really support each other well, but on the other hand, isn't time apart good for a relationship?

And one needs to think about what happens at work itself.  Kaylene feels that they keep their relationship professional at work, but others may have a different perception.  She's worried that colleagues may expect them to 'gang up' when conflicts occur, or to influence each other unduly in work decisions.  Would people working under them really feel that they could speak honestly to them if they had a work issue with their spouse?  Probably not.

Should Kaylene and her husband continue working together, or should one of them look for another job?  And if one of them did leave, how would that change things between them?

 
DISCUSSION POINTS

• Did you meet your husband or wife at work?  How did the romantic relationship change the working relationship?

• Do married couples need to have some separate interests and time apart?  Could living together and working together be just too close for comfort?

• Have you ever had a workplace romance that didn't end happily in marriage?  Were you able to keep working together after the relationship ended?

• What happens if one partner gets promoted above the other?  Could that create rivalries and conflicts at home or at work?

• Would working with your partner make it harder for people to take your professional judgement seriously?  For example, is there a perception that you would automatically support (or oppose) decisions made by your spouse, rather than looking at issues impartially?

• If you're an employer, does having couples at work complicate the employer/employee relationship?  Does it make workers any more or less productive in your view?

• What about if one person isn't happy in their job, or wants to leave for professional reasons.  Could this affect the career of their spouse?

Some thoughts from Psychologist Deb Sorrensen, Focus on the Family

Many couples work together in running a family business or farm, but usually there are clear lines of accountability.  Couples in ministry also often work together.  However usually they are working together as a management team, rather than as employees in distinct roles.

Handling conflict can be difficult.  It can be difficult for staff if there's some marriage conflict and difficult for the marriage if there's staff conflict. 

There's no clear right and wrong answer, but it does depend on how the relationship started.  Working together does bring your lives together and if you no longer work together then you have less to share and have to work hard at finding areas of common interest.

It certainly can be very difficult if there are clear distinctions between roles and one is in authority over the other.  How do you handle that conflict so that it doesn't affect your home life?  We can't just switch off work when we get home.

We spend so much time at work, it's such an important part of who we are.  If there is conflict at home, it will carry over into the workday, which could impact on our work.

People need to be very careful around workplace romances.  Work can throw people into intimate surroundings and romance can blossom.  How do you deal with it if it goes sour?

What do you think?