Date Your Boss, if You Are a Man: C-Suite Strategies (A Special Report) --- The Financial Implications From Having A Relationship With Your Boss: New research shows how much that subordinates can make -- and how much they stand to lose

 

“Most people know someone who's dated their boss.

 

In fact, office romances, especially those with power imbalances, are so common that they barely register as scandal -- more than 25% of U.S. workers have engaged in a romantic relationship with a colleague, 18% of which were with a superior, according to SHRM, formerly the Society for Human Resource Management.

 

But there has been little evidence on the financial impact of these relationships on the people involved.

 

Now, new research finds that the financial benefits and costs are substantial -- especially for women.

 

Previous research on office romances "focused on clearly unacceptable behavior, where the lines are pretty black and white," says Emily Nix, an associate professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "But no one really looked at consensual relationships."

 

Nix couldn't find good data sets in the U.S., but she did find it in Finland. She was able to examine heterosexual couples working in the same establishment, and where one partner is a manager and the other is not. She then compared them to workers with the same background who also date managers employed elsewhere. Nix then tracked the subordinates' earnings before and after relationships began and ended.

 

Her findings were clear: When a female subordinate enters a relationship with a male manager at the same workplace, the subordinate's earnings rise by about 6% over two years, on top of typical wage increases. "Even in years three and four into the relationship, her gains are still larger than a similar woman who also dates a manager, but at a different workplace," Nix says.

 

When men date a boss, the increase in wages is even more pronounced -- more than twice what women experienced, she says. However, those situations are much rarer.

 

Then there is the downside: When these office relationships end, women subordinates see their earnings drop roughly 18% the year after the breakup -- mainly because many of them end up leaving the company. And their salaries remain substantially lower than what they had been for at least four years.

 

By contrast, Nix didn't find a significant income effect for men after breakups with their female managers. Again, the reason is primarily due to the fact that far fewer men end up leaving the company when a relationship ends.

 

Nix points to two possible reasons why office relationships can be both beneficial and so costly. On the upside, there is obvious nepotism: Managers may favor their romantic partners when handing out raises, bonuses or promotions.

 

Also, managers may mentor their partners, increasing their skills and productivity.

 

For co-workers, she says, both reasons can hurt morale. The result is that when a manager --subordinate relationship begins, the retention rate among other workers at the same establishment falls by 6 percentage points. The churn is especially pronounced in small firms, where favoritism is hard to hide and easy to resent.

 

Rather than forbidding relationships, which is likely to be ineffective and unpopular, Nix suggests that firms can limit their impact by at minimum removing managers from making decisions about the pay, bonuses and promotions of romantic partners. That kind of firewall, she argues, can reduce perceptions of favoritism and protect subordinates (who are mostly women) if the relationship ends.

 

For employees, Nix suggests they first talk to their HR departments to see what protections are in place, so their career trajectories don't depend on the success of their in-office romance. "They should also have a game plan for what they would do if the relationship were to end," Nix adds.

 

Dating at work isn't going away, but the impact can't be understated, she says. "Dating the boss is a double-edged sword," she says. "There may be some benefits to you personally, but there will always be a question mark around you and your success."” [1]

 

1. C-Suite Strategies (A Special Report) --- The Financial Implications From Having A Relationship With Your Boss: New research shows how much that subordinates can make -- and how much they stand to lose. Mitchell, Heidi.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 02 Mar 2026: R6.