Colleagues affair

Leather jackets and sunglasses clearly are a sign.

The open secret, I’ve worked in that situation as I’m sure many of us have.
Sadly there is little you can do without confrontation or asking your line manager to step in. It’s a horrible situation but they really should be pulling their weight and not causing discomfort amongst colleagues.

Get another job.

zakouma66

Leather jackets and sunglasses clearly are a sign.

😁

This is dreadful and totally unacceptable 😯
I'm truly shocked. Never heard of such a thing.
I'd resign and look for another job

In your situation, is it worth you being there?

Are you a temp or a deputy manager?
If a temp, ask the agency to find you another temp post.

I don't think this is any of your business. Let the company you all work for sort it out. I would think you had enough going on in your own life to bother about what other people are up to. But, if these people are not doing their jobs properly and you are the one being left to do their jobs then yes, it is your business so make a complaint.

keep your feelings under lock and key, and
take the key with you when you leave the office.
don't let anyone get your feelings out of you.

I am a temp who's a deputy manager of a library. We have one (very small floor) with his office door opposite us. Last night she was saying to me 'I can see your upset' but I have difficulty faking it because I felt I was witnessing the 'set up' between them. I've been organising a lot of community events online and hosting a lot of activities but I get the feeling that they've had a conversation about letting me work it out between them. He works between sites as a residential manager so it's a relief I don't see him five days in a row.

I would have thought the unprofessionalism ie not responding to your business calls, would be more of a cause for concern then what they get up too in their private lives, and what they wear.

Thank you Welbeck, I will take that advice. I just dread seeing both of them when I go into work.

I am a temp who's a deputy manager of a library.

I always thought temps were secretaries. Perhpas I am 30 years out of date.

You are not going to leave the situation are you.

The affair is none of your business, but the fact it is affecting the work situation is. They seem to be behaving in a unprofessional manner.

The dilemma I have is should I grin and bare it? I am not going to talk about my suspicions. I realise that I have to be smart about this and only highlight how it impacts on me (and more importantly our clients). I just don't know if I can resist saying to him 'sure you haven't left your shades in the manager's office?' But I am better than that and need to focus on what's important.

The issue here is that it is affecting your ability to do your own job(you were forced to deal with his clients as well as your own) so is clearly completely unprofessional. You must watch your own back particularly if you want or need to keep the job. I agree you can ask HR to step in but that might involve you in a load of grief , particularly if they are permanent/ senior staff when you are temp.
if the shenanigins are making the work atmosphere unpleasant and you can afford to leave and temp elsewhere then I agree with GSM that that is another option.

If the pair in question were more discreet it would not be a problem but as they are anything but you have the right to complain especially as your work is being affected. I was in a similar situation many years ago and I was disciplined for dropping the F bomb when I popped into my office to pick up something while I was on leave, only to find the pair in question in flagrante on top of my desk. Apparently, my language upset the women on my desk and was most inappropriate. Personally, in the circs, I don't think any other word would have fitted the bill so well.

Thanks Labradora. I realise I have to be extremely careful how I interact with these people. Sadly, work is very fake and superficial at the best of times. On most days, his department doesn't tell the rest of us where he is so we get a lot of contractors and clients expecting to pick up keys and agreements. He also has an annoying habit of asking for things he doesn't need as an excuse to see her in the office with his big cheesy grin. I will do my upmost to look smiley and relaxed despite their rude behaviour.

Over the years I have had quite a few colleagues who have had affairs, mostly I have considered it none of my business.
Except for one lady who was my boss for about 18 years and had at least 4 affairs with colleagues, this often impacted on my work and relationship with her. Once she was having an affair with a senior Director of our company but she finished it when he started to sit outside her house in his car. He went on an business trip to New York and stayed at the hotel at the World Trade Center (pre 9/11) . He kept ringing the office, I took a number of the calls and he was threatening to jump out of the window unless she took him back. A colleague got so fed up and said tell him to jump - as she had stayed at same hotel and knew the windows didn’t open.
At one time I was working late finishing off some work, I saw a light on in her office so went to say good night and she was having sex on the desk with a colleague. I was absolutely mortified, the next day she begged me not to tell anyone.
I lost a lot of respect for her, but she did used to let me get away with lots of things, like bringing my children to the office or having time off when I struggled with childcare. At a time before flexible working I was allowed to work full time hours in 4 days (which I rarely did) but worked long hours at financial year end which I didn’t claim for. She always gave me a decent pay rise and promotions. So often covering her back and keeping her secrets has given me a good private pension.

I would just come out and say to her " I know what's going on between you and Xx I don't want any part in it please just leave me get on with my work in peace" I would escalate the fact that he isn't making himself available to clients who are coming to see him. Have these people come to pre arranged appointments? If so I would tell them to take a seat and inform him they are there, even if it means shouting through a locked door and walk away.
Do you think they are having sex in his office or are they just meeting up outside of work? If the former I would tell them you are not happy that they using the premises for their affair. Be direct and brazen it out if you need to say you will report them. Do the clothes they are wearing go against the policy of your company if not there is nothing you can do about them.

Hi, I don't think they are doing it in the building. Simply because we have a CCTV room that police check on a regular basis. I do think they meet outside though. His behaviour towards me has generally been really weird - cold, indifferent and recently a lot of avoidance (I also think as a freelance journalist and researcher he knows I can spot a story). Unfortunately I can't fake it when confronted with blatant BS. For the first time last night I looked into her eyes and knew she was lying about her marriage. I feel I want to have a talk to my boss about their unprofessionalism with gadgets though. He's a stupid man because he's got a picture with those shades on - which are a carbon copy of the ones on her desk. She frequently checks herself out in the mirror with makeup. As soon as he comes upstairs, she jumps up on queue to cut across to his space. It's so obvious. And I can't believe I am the only one in such a small team/space that hasn't clocked it.

The affair is none of your business, but the fact it is affecting the work situation is

What they wear or do in private is none of your business. But your colleague should be pulling her weight in work. Your male colleague should not be refusing legitimate business calls. They need to be reminded its a workplace and not a lonely hearts club.

I would probably confront them about their unprofessional behaviour in the workplace and make it clear I will have to lodge a complaint with higher authority if they dont amend it.

But then thats me.

If you are forthright in the workplace nowadays the needy snowflakes will often go whingeing to management that you "bullied" them.

It sounds like the affair bothers you more than the not pulling their weight at work, the affair is none of your business, if their work is the problem and effects your ability to do your job then report that but there is no need to tell anyone about the affair.

Personally I’d enjoy the spectacle of it all. I’d find it entertaining but that’s my sense of humour.

The fact that they are oblivious to their behaviour (excessive phone use, guarding their phone, male coworker locking himself away after hours) is drawing attention (for all the wrong reasons). He's crap at his job and gets paid £41k but there's not been one week when someone hasn't tried to find him for something and there's no professional group email to brief us from him (which suggests it gives him a lot of lee-way to have some 'fun').