18+ only - Is flirty banter with your boss ok?

I would reply but you 'only want replies from adults!'.





Ps. Why adults only??

I don't see anything wrong with it; with PG-rated banter.



Think you just need to tell them that they're overthinking things if someone asks, or that it's just a bit of fun; harmless. They're not the boss of your job either.

because I would like people experienced with full time work and boss-subordinate relationships to answer also teenagers aren't likely to have been in similar situations and if they have then that is very worrying considering the likely age gap.

ok! it's just there are people higher up than him that they could complain to and people can be really strange sometimes

'Teenagers' include people who are nineTEEN - you can leave education at 18. Meaning some teenagers will of experienced first time work. As well as this I'm sure many 18/19 year olds have been in a similar situation to you. How exactly is this worrying as they are past the age of consent?

i literally said 18+ in the title of my thread lol, fairly obvious I'm talking about teens under this age.

You can meet some really weird people out their in the workplace.
I remember working in a factory a few years ago where the female lab manager walked into the fitters shop and tore down a calendar featuring topless girls saying that she found it offensive, those guys had had those calendars on the workshop wall for 40 years, and saw absolutely nothing wrong in it (the calendars are supplied by a local engineering firm to all of their customers)... So they were obviously peeved and complained to their manager, he retaliated by marching into the office of the all female sales team and removed the pictures of male pinups.. The sales executive was furious about having her Brad Pit / chippendale pictures removed, and one hell of a shitstorm ensued.... resulting in a company wide ban on pinups and naked/topless pictures.... No-one won except the female lab manager (a typical middle aged, middle class, feminist, lefty), everyone else was pissed off.

What I am getting at here is that everyone will have a different opinion on what is or is not acceptable in the workplace... you have to tread carefully, especially in these politically correct left wing times that we are in now..

On the one hand have a good rapport with your boss, and the occasional laugh and giggles is ok, healthy even... But beware because you never quite know what others are thinking, your biggest threat will not be the men but any older women, especially if they secretly fancy the boss. In my experience older women get insanely jealous of a good looking guy flirting with women younger than them.

Yes, but you then went on to say teenagers

context, my dear. most people take it into consideration otherwise conversations would be very long winded.

i literally said 18+ in the title of my thread lol, fairly obvious I'm talking about teens under this age.

Being as you can enter the workforce full-time at 16, this thread really is relevant to anyone 16+

It sounds unprofessional for both you and your boss. Your boss should be behaving and you should not be reciprocating with the flirting.

You are still young, so here is some advice:

If you are even slightly attractive and your boss is specifically giving you attention, he almost definitely wants to sleep with you. The only outcome is that you get together and stay happily ever after, however, you have already stated that you are not interested.

So, what could go wrong?

He makes an advance at some point and you turn him down = work issues.
You stop flirting with him, but maybe with another member of staff, he gets jealous = work issues.
He gets tired of flirting/pursuing you and focuses his attention on perhaps a new girl, you get jealous = work issues.
You continue flirting and your team or other work colleagues have problems with it = work issues.
A colleague or colleagues get jealous that you are getting attention from your boss or vice-versa = work issues.

Etc, etc. There are so many things that can go wrong and this is a potential HR time bomb.

You have also mentioned others at work taking issue; trust me they are watching and if this continues and they feel it is getting out of hand or that you are getting a pass from him, it will cause problems. Even a situation where you go for an internal promotion over a colleague that he isn't flirting with and you get it, there may be doubts over whether you deserved the promotion or if it was something else. Or if you are given a specific task over someone else. There may be a perfectly legitimate reason, but in some situations, people may incorrectly attribute favoritism.

If this is your first real job, it can be a bitter pill to swallow, but you are there to work and not make friends. By all means be pleasant and helpful, but try to be aware of the dynamics. I have seen the fall out of work relationships going sour many times and it usually ends up with one of the parties being separated from the other or the team.

Another way to think of it is if there was a hidden camera and your big boss or an investor or a client witnessed the exchanges, would they think it was ok?

At the end of the day. you are both adults and can do what you want. If your relationship matures and you do end up together, great; but I strongly recommend that whilst you are work you carry yourself professionally.