NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Office life has become more consuming, less rewarding and longer than ever before. More and more employees are adding a pinch of love to spice up their 9 to 5.

If Cupid is perched in your cubicle, 5 Tips is here to help you navigate those tumultuous waves of love.

Almost 60 percent of employees have had an office romance, according to the career publisher Vault.com. And talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve! Employment firm Randstad says that 26 percent of employees have kissed a colleague. Nearly 28 percent of employees have had romantic encounters at work.

While office-romances were once clearly taboo and fodder for the gossip aisle, today, it's just another part of the 9-to-5 world.

"Office romance just doesn't carry the same stigma it did a generation ago," says Mark Oldman of Vault.com.

Before you accept the date with Johnny from accounting, you may want to see if your company has a policy about office romance. About a quarter of companies have a written policy about office romance, according to Frank Scanlon of the Society for Human Resource Management.

And while many employers know it's unrealistic to eliminate workplace romance with a policy, you don't want to risk losing your job. Although this kind of zero tolerance is not very common, other companies may have policies prohibiting romances between a boss and a subordinate or between people in the same department.

"Most employers don't want to reach into the private lives of employees," says Oldman. "Smart employers want to cover themselves against troubling behavior. They don't want to create a big brother situation."

Other companies embrace office romances. SouthWest Airlines encourages nepotism and romance, according to the company. The airline has 1,300 couples working for them right now.

"We find that people tend to have the same commitments and have a more vested interest in the company when they have relationships," says Marilee McInnis of SouthWest. And in case you're wondering, the company does not have any policy regarding the "Mile-High Club," says SouthWest.

Most office romances don't work out. In fact, only about 21 percent of them lead to long-term relationships, according to Vault.com. And when these relationships do go bust, there's a lot more at stake than the relationship.

You'll still have to see this person every day. On top of all the hurt feelings, you'll also be dealing with colleagues who are caught in the middle, and there will be plenty of awkward encounters. These are issues that should be discussed even before getting into a relationship.

Karen Carlisle of Randstad recommends talking about how you may want to end the relationship. Ask the best way for you to work together. Set some boundaries in case the relationship does go sour. It's best to get this out of the way early, says Scanlon.

The last thing you want to do is to call attention to your budding office relationship. Discretion is golden, says Oldman. It may be very hard to work if you're the center of the gossip mill.

If you've decided to launch into the dating pool, make sure you stay away from all public displays of affection, don't e-mail love letters from work. Try to avoid leaving work together at the same time.

Even when you're not on the clock, you have to keep it professional, says Karen Carlisle of Randstand. Company picnics, drinks with colleagues and holiday parties are still professional events where you'll need to remain on the defense.

"Don't let alcohol loosen up your plans for discretion. It has subverted some of the most discreet plans," cautions Oldsman.

If your colleague is engaged in an office romance and you think it's beginning to affect your work, the best thing to do is to go to your human resources department, says Scanlon.

Document any circumstances where you think you've been treated unfairly or have been passed over for assignments or promotions. There are a number of options that may be available to you.

"Ultimately it's the responsibility of the human resource department," he says.

However, if a workplace romance is simply just getting on your nerves, you may just want to casually confront one of the two parties in private. Make sure that you mention to them that they should be more discreet in their relationship.

"Don't ever send an e-mail," says Oldman. "You can never really tell the tone in an e-mail. It's always best just to use a personal approach."

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Gerri Willis is a personal finance editor for CNN Business News and the host for Open House. E-mail comments to 5tips@cnn.com.