As beginnings go, it was not promising. The intern was late for his first meeting with his mentor at the Chicago law firm. And yet things worked out OK. More than three decades later, the mentee, Barack Obama, and his mentor and later wife, Michelle, are still together after eight years in the White House.
故事的开始并不顺利。芝加哥律师事务所的这位实习生在与他导师第一次见面时就迟到了。然而后续发展很好。30多年后，这位学徒巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)和他的导师、后来的妻子米歇尔(Michelle)在白宫生活了8年之后仍然在一起。
That the Obamas’ relationship started in the workplace is hardly unique. A survey this year from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 27 per cent of US workers have had an office romance. Younger workers are sometimes characterised as puritanical, but research suggests they may be more open to the idea of workplace romance than older peers because the divide between private and work life is more porous.
奥巴马夫妇的恋情始于职场，这并不少见。美国人力资源管理协会(SHRM)今年的一项调查发现，27%的美国员工都有过一次办公室恋情。年轻的员工有时被认为道德感较高，但研究表明，他们可能比年长的同事更能接受办公室恋情，因为他们私人生活和工作生活之间的界限更加模糊。
The Christmas party is the backdrop to many budding romances. I know two people who met their future spouses this way. In the SHRM survey, more than a quarter of those who had an office relationship got together at work socials. Over the next few weeks, office workers will have the opportunity to requite the unrequited, as with Dawn and Tim in the television cringe-comedy, The Office, who finally kissed after years of shared glances and in-jokes, as Yazoo’s “Only You” played in the background.
许多恋情的萌芽都发生在圣诞派对。我认识的两个人就是这样遇到了他们未来的配偶。在人力资源管理协会的调查中，超过四分之一的办公室恋情是在工作社交聚会上凑成的。在接下来的几个星期里，上班族们将有机会去回应那些单相思，就像尴尬喜剧《办公室》(The Office)中的道恩和蒂姆一样，在多年的眼神交流和内部笑话之后，伴着Yazoo的《只有你》(Only You)背景音乐，俩人终于接吻了。
Well, that’s the romantic ideal. The Christmas party provides an arena for some pretty shocking alcohol-fuelled behaviour too. One fast-food restaurant worker is suing her employer after alleging that drunken partygoers vomited on the potluck buffet and engaged in sexual acts. Harassment, insubordination and sexual misconduct are other risks.
当然，这只是浪漫的理想。圣诞派对也为一些令人震惊的酒后行为提供了舞台。最近一名快餐店工作人员起诉了她的雇主，指控派对上的醉鬼呕吐到自助餐上并发生性行为。此外还有发生骚扰、闹事和不端性行为等风险。
In the wake of #MeToo, employers have become vigilant to personal and work matters colliding over a free bar, says Siân Keall, employment partner at Travers Smith. Christmas is a busy time for employment lawyers, helping companies mitigate the risks. “Organisations [try] to ensure that employees understand in advance that company Christmas parties are work events,” Keall says. Some clients, she adds, choose a so-called “designated driver” — a senior person who stays sober and vigilant, responsible for any issues at the event.
特拉弗斯史密斯律师事务所(Travers Smith)的雇佣事务合伙人西安•基尔(Siân Keall)表示，在#MeToo运动之后，雇主们开始警惕在免费酒会上出现私人事务与工作事务的混淆。对于雇佣事务律师来说，圣诞节是一个忙碌的时间，他们要帮助企业降低风险。基尔表示：“公司要确保员工事先明白，公司的圣诞派对属于工作活动。”她补充说，有些客户会选择一位所谓的“指定司机”——一位保持清醒和警觉的资深人员，负责处理活动中的任何状况。
A new working paper presented to the US’s National Bureau of Economic Research found that workplace relationships last longer than those between people who do not work together. That could be due to the couple sharing interests and being sympathetic to each other’s stresses — they don’t have to map out a byzantine organisational chart to get their partner to understand who their boss’s boss is. Alternatively, such longevity might be because extricating yourself from a work relationship comes with added complications.
提交给美国国家经济研究局(National Bureau of Economic Research)的一份新工作论文发现，职场情侣比那些不在一起工作的情侣更持久。这可能是因为职场情侣有共同的兴趣，并能理解对方的压力——他们不需要绘制一张错综复杂的组织结构图来让他们的伴侣了解他们老板的老板是谁。此外，如此持久可能也是因为摆脱一段职场恋情会格外麻烦。
The real focus of the NBER research is on calculating the financial and career costs of an employee’s relationship with their boss. It’s common to hear about senior leaders such as BP’s Bernard Looney, or Jeff Zucker at CNN, who were ousted for failing to declare a relationship with a subordinate. But less so, the consequences for the other half.
美国国家经济研究局研究的真正重点是计算员工与上司谈恋爱的财务和职业成本。英国石油(BP)的伯纳德•鲁尼(Bernard Looney)、美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)的杰夫•扎克(Jeff Zucker)等高管因未公开与下属的恋情而被解职，这类消息屡见不鲜，但另一方的后果却鲜有耳闻。
First, the good news. When an employee gets together with their boss it provides a boost to their salary, according to the report. It concludes “a 9 per cent income bump” for women. The researchers tell me this might be even more (14 per cent) for male subordinates dating their bosses, though the numbers are far smaller. (They did not have the data for same-sex relationships.)
首先来听听好的一面。该报告称，当员工与上司恋爱时，他们的工资也会随之上涨。报告的结论是，女性的“收入增长了9%”。研究人员告诉我，与上司约会的男性下属收入增幅可能甚至更多，达到14%，不过这个群体本身要小得多。研究人员没有同性恋职场恋情的数据。
Emily Nix, one of the authors of the report, has three explanations. The most obvious is outright nepotism, she tells me. The others are more subtle. Perhaps the subordinate was “super-talented and wasn’t recognised before” or their partner’s mentorship helped “to improve their networks”. If dating your boss is the best way to get your talents noticed, then there is something wrong with the organisation, she notes.
该报告的作者之一艾米丽•尼克斯(Emily Nix)有三种解释。她告诉我，最明显的就是赤裸裸的裙带关系。其他的则比较微妙。也许这位下属“才华横溢，以前没有得到赏识”，或者他们伴侣的指导帮助“改善了他们的人际网络”。她指出，如果和上司约会才是让别人注意到你才能的最佳途径，那么这家公司一定有问题。
The cost of break-up can be harsh. According to the paper, women who break up with their managers “experience a 4.2 percentage point increase in unemployment”. The repercussions for men were harder to calculate because the numbers who date their female bosses are smaller.
分手的代价可能是惨痛的。根据这篇论文，与上司分手的女性“失业率会上升4.2个百分点”。分手对男性的影响则较难计算，因为与女上司约会的男下属很少。
Love in the office impacts more people than just the couple. It can be demotivating to watch the boss’s crush receive opportunities not open to others. “There is a significant decline in retention of other workers, with firms where a manager dates a subordinate retaining six percentage points fewer workers,” the paper concludes.
办公室恋情影响的不仅仅是这对情侣。看着上司喜欢的人得到他人得不到的机会，可能会让人失去动力。论文总结道：“其他员工的保留率显著下降，在经理与下属约会的公司，员工保留率会降低6个百分点。”
As you put on your sequins and sparkle for the office party, remember this: romance might blossom and so too your salary — but when the flush of love declines, prepare for a financial hit too.
当你为办公室派对穿上缀满亮片光彩夺目的衣服时，请记住：你的爱情可能会开花结果，你的薪水也会——但当爱情的潮水退去时，你也要做好经济上受到打击的准备。