Should I encourage a workplace romance?
Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world’s largest HR professional society and author of “Reset: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval.”
Question: Two of my single coworkers would be a great match. They aren’t acquainted and don’t work together in any capacity, should I have any concerns about connecting them as potential romantic interests? – Andrew
Answer: Understandably, you might want to play matchmaker for your single co-workers with good intentions, but before you proceed, there are some considerations to bear in mind.
First, check if your company has a policy regarding workplace relationships or dating among employees. Some companies have strict rules about colleagues dating, even if they don’t directly work together. Understanding your company’s stance on this issue is crucial. Additionally, consider your workplace culture and whether other couples exist within the organization.
Assuming there’s no policy against it, reaching out individually to your coworkers is wise. It’s essential to gauge their interest and comfort levels with the idea of dating someone from the same workplace. Some individuals may have reservations about dating colleagues for various reasons.
Introducing two co-workers can lead to different outcomes – it could blossom
into a positive romantic connection or potentially lead to complications. I’ve seen both scenarios unfold, and it’s essential to recognize that the line between personal and work life can sometimes become blurred.
Consider asking yourself a few questions before proceeding: What if the match doesn’t work out? How would it reflect on you as the one who introduced them? Are there consequences, such as someone losing their job, that could arise from this? If they’re not interested, could it create an awkward workplace environment? Moreover, if the relationship doesn’t work out, could it make the workplace uncomfortable?
Before making introductions, carefully think through these questions and assess the potential consequences if things don’t go as planned. If you’re uncertain
or have concerns, reaching out to your human resources department for guidance is a prudent step.
I hope everything works out well for you and your co-workers.
I am a full-time direct employee working a hybrid schedule. I work remotely from home two-three days a week. Can I write off my home office or any associated supplies or expenses on my taxes? – Drea
Many workers face similar circumstances due to the widespread use of hybrid and remote work arrangements. Writing off your home office or associated expenses on your taxes depends on various factors.
Your state will determine your ability to write off home-office expenses. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania
provide a deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses. On a federal level, in the past, an employee could claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed business expenses if it exceeded 2% of your adjusted gross income. However, that deduction was suspended until 2026. In addition, the IRS does allow small business owners to deduct their home office from their taxes, but this does not typically apply to employees.
Exploring whether your employer reimburses supplies or other expenses when working a hybrid work arrangement may be worthwhile. California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Montana, New York and the District of Columbia, require employers to reimburse employees for business-related expenses incurred when working either a hybrid or fully remote arrangement.
Expenses potentially covered by state law reimbursement requirements include cellphone charges, internet or data plan charges, or other services or equipment necessary for an employee’s job.
Your employer may have a reimbursement policy addressing remote employee business expenses. If you work in a state that does not require your employer to reimburse your business expenses, or you cannot locate a company policy, check with human resources to see if a policy exists. If not, it never hurts to ask about other options or if your employer may consider it in the future.
Always consult a tax professional or accountant who can provide personalized advice based on your situation and the most current tax code. They can guide you on potential deductions and ensure compliance with tax laws.
I wish you the best of luck in navigating your options.
ALABAMA Gadsden: The city wants what it views as its share of state money allocated to local 911 services. Gadsden leaders say they need the money to help fund the maintenance of city-owned radio towers, which are vital to the mission of emergency communication.
ALASKA Anchorage: Dr. Anne Zink, who was a public face of Alaska’s pandemic response, is resigning as the state’s chief medical officer. Zink plans to continue working full-time in the role until early April, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Arizona’s massive Medicaid fraud scandal involves multiple reports of “horrific” human trafficking and kidnapping, but so far, known criminal indictments connected to the case concern financial crimes only. Taxpayers were victimized by what investigators describe as deceptive scams that involved luring patients into getting treatment at phony or subpar outpatient behavioral health treatment facilities for alcohol and drug dependence.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that the state Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism will grant $4.34 million for outdoor recreation projects across the state, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
COLORADO Fort Collins: Two months after their release, two of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have reached Moffat County, the farthest reported location from initial release sites in Grand and Summit counties.
CONNECTICUT Norwich: If you ever run into Plainfield Police Officer Kyle Sutcliffe, you will most likely see Ingrid, a 2-and-a-half year old yellow lab, right by his side. One of two police dogs used by the Plainfield Police Department, Ingrid has been an asset since joining them nearly a year ago. Ingrid’s heightened sense of smell has helped police locate illegal drugs.
DELAWARE Milford: The Delaware Veterans Home continues to deal with staffing shortages that Secretary of State Jeff Bullock said may be best tackled by shifting the nursing home to the private sector. Dozens of positions at the veterans home in Milford remain unfilled, preventing the state’s skilled nursing facility for veterans from expanding its services.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The Supreme Court rejected appeals from three Republican U.S. House members who challenged fines for not wearing face coverings on the House floor in 2021.
FLORIDA Fort Myers: A woman was collecting seashells on a Captiva beach when she found a unique item that appears to be a human jaw bone, officials said.
GEORGIA Athens: The Athens Area Diaper Bank is hosting a fundraising event to raise money toward its goal of providing diapers to families in need in a six-county area.
HAWAII Honolulu: Farmers are urging the governor to declare a state of emergency over the rapid spread of a beetle known to attack trees, mainly coconut trees, Hawaii News Now reported.
IDAHO Boise: Authorities are searching for a man suspected of shooting into a car with a young child inside, and firing at police, the Idaho Press reported.
ILLINOIS Peoria: A sober living group home is attempting to open a sixperson facility in Peoria’s historic Uplands neighborhood. Some residents do not want to see that many people living in the home – but there may be nothing they can do about it.
INDIANA Fort Wayne: A freelance reporter based in Fort Wayne is facing up to five years in federal prison after allegedly threatening to “kill every Jew” in the city and “shoot every pro-Israel U.S. government official,” according to a federal affidavit filed in court last week.
IOWA Des Moines: Record enrollment numbers have motivated the University of Iowa to temporarily pause selling one of its oldest dormitories. Mayflower Residence Hall will house students through the 2024-25 academic year, the university announced, citing record-high new student applications and large interest from returning students. The school had planned to close the dorm in an effort to move student housing to a central location.
KANSAS Topeka: A state fishing record for a white crappie caught last March was nullified after ball bearings were found inside it, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’ spokeswoman said.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Kentucky Republicans want to spend $1.5 million to audit the state’s largest school system to make sure it isn’t wasting or misusing money. But Jefferson County Public Schools officials say they already are mandated by the state Department of Education to do an annual audit and are concerned about the additional manpower of another audit.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Louisiana Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson said Republican Gov. Jeff Landry wants to set the stage beginning in 2025 for eventually eliminating the state’s income tax, but it won’t happen in one dramatic step if at all.
MAINE York: The Purple Palace building is for sale at York Beach in the wake of a court battle between the breakfast place’s longtime owner and her grandson.
MARYLAND Annapolis: Republicans hoping to pick up an open U.S. Senate seat in deep blue Maryland have the most competitive candidate they’ve fielded for decades. But former Gov. Larry Hogan will need more than GOP support to overcome sustained outrage about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down constitutional protections for abortion.
MASSACHUSETTS Brockton: Officials have asked Gov. Maura Healey to send in the Massachusetts National Guard to stop violence and address security concerns at a troubled high school in a city south of Boston, some school committee members said.
MICHIGAN East Lansing: The legal bills for an investigation into whether bullying is an issue among the eight people elected by the state’s voters to run Michigan State University have exceeded half a million dollars, and are rising.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were still conducting their preliminary investigation into Sunday’s shooting, spokesperson Bonney Bowman said. They planned to share more information once that was complete.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The JacksonMedgar Wiley Evers International Airport has received $8 million in federal grant funds as part of the U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funds will be used to upgrade equipment at the airport, according to L’Sherie Dean, the airport authority’s director of communications, marketing and public relations.
MISSOURI Columbia: After the Missouri General Assembly approved a $2.8 billion budget to expand Interstate 70 to six lanes across the entirety of Missouri, progress is happening in the Columbia area. MoDOT announced Millstone Weber was selected as the design-build contract. Work is expected to start in the summer and take upward of three years.
MONTANA Great Falls: Cascade County Commissioners voted unanimously to select former CEO of the Great Falls Association of Realtors Terry Thompson to take over as elections administrator after removing the job from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant in December.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Experts said the state saw a record number of sandhill cranes during the first week of aerial surveys, Omaha WorldHerald reported.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Police officers conspired to cover up a car crash involving an off-duty coworker, according to records obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Sargent’s Purchase: A team of rescuers used the Cog Railway to shave off time but it still took more than 10 hours to save a hiker in conditions that included sustained winds topping 90 mph on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, officials said. The hiker from Portsmouth didn’t have appropriate gear for the difficult winter conditions and continued his solo trek after he saw other groups turn around because of the dangerous gusts and wind chill of minus-52 degrees Fahrenheit, a state Fish and Game conservation officer said.
NEW JERSEY Atlantic City: Four major gambling revenue records were smashed in New Jersey in January as 2024 got off to a rousing start for everything except the thing casinos care about most: the amount of money won from inperson gamblers.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: The police department in New Mexico’s largest city opened a new internal investigation related to an ongoing federal inquiry into allegations of possible corruption in the department’s DWI unit.
NEW YORK New York: The funeral of a renowned transgender activist in a New York cathedral elicited a denunciation of the event by a senior church official, who called the Mass a scandal within one of the preeminent houses of worship in U.S. Catholicism.
NORTH CAROLINA Lake Toxaway: A state shutdown of a wilderness therapy camp where a boy died this month will remain in effect until April 14, health department regulators have said.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Weather officials said western and central North Dakota could see little chance of spring flooding, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
OHIO Cincinnati: The number of homeless people sleeping outside in the Cincinnati area rose by nearly half in 2023 from 2022 – from 752 to 1,100, a new report shows. It is a count not seen since 2015.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Two months have passed since Oklahoma City voters overwhelmingly approved a tax extension to pool $900 million into building a new arena to house the city’s NBA team. But what remains unclear is who might foot the bill for cost overruns, which could be considerable if things don’t go as planned.
OREGON Portland: A television station in Portland apologized for inadvertently showing a racist image during a program aimed at highlighting positive stories.
PENNSYLVANIA Chester: Authorities say a gun used to wound a police detective following a chase in southeastern Pennsylvania had been used to wound another person in a driveby shooting earlier in the day.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: College scholarships aren’t inherently controversial. But a plan to create a new one for the city’s disenfranchised communities has drawn criticism. That’s because the funds would be generated by the nonprofit operator of the city’s deepwater port, which has polluted its neighbors for years.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Just as former attorney Alex Murdaugh has fallen – convicted of murder and multiple fraud charges and sentenced to life plus 27 years – so have his associates, which range from a former banker and a fellow disbarred lawyer to men with known street gang and drug connections. Two of Murdaugh’s white-collar henchmen reside in federal prisons, and now two of his known drug associates have been sentenced to state prison, while one remaining suspect has yet to face his day in court.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: A Pierre man and state prison inmate, who was serving a life sentence for first degree murder in connection with his wife’s death, died at the Jameson Annex Infirmary, according to the South Dakota Department of Corrections.
TENNESSEE Knoxville: Tennessee Valley Authority staff solidified plans to close the massive Kingston Fossil Plant by 2027 and replace its coal generators with a natural gas plant, some solar panels and battery storage.
TEXAS Corpus Christi: Decades after the endangered smalltooth sawfish disappeared from Texas coastlines, researchers at Texas A&M UniversityCorpus Christi aim to find out how many remain in the U.S. The last confirmed smalltooth sawfish recorded in Texas was in Aransas Bay in 1984.
UTAH Salt Lake City: The Utah Division of Water Resources said the state’s water conditions are looking promising due to above-normal snowpack levels, Utah Public Radio reported.
VERMONT Montpelier: Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced that he has requested a federal major disaster declaration to help communities hit by severe rainfall and flooding in December.
VIRGINIA Petersburg: In celebration of Black History Month, the traveling exhibit Freedom Culture Art Dolls Museum will make a stop at the Petersburg Public Library. Over 200 handmade cloth dolls will be showcased. The generational keepsakes infused with Virginia’s finest cotton range in height from 1 to 4 feet tall.
WASHINGTON Bellingham: A bill before the Washington Legislature would bring more state funding to tribes that are trying to keep opioids from taking the next generation too. The state Senate unanimously approved a bill last week that is expected to provide nearly $8 million total each year for the 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington state, funds drawn in part from a roughly half-billion-dollar settlement between the state and major opioid distributors.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A Virginia bank says it will delay plans to auction off land at West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s posh resort in an attempt to recover more than $300 million on defaulted business loans by the governor’s family.
WISCONSIN Milwaukee: Wisconsin remains a major national player in the agricultural marketplace, but its loss in farms has been dramatic, particularly the state’s signature dairies, according to 2022 data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture.
WYOMING Casper: Casper’s police chief said the number of DUIs, public intoxication and minors who were caught having alcohol increased in 2023, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports