Workplace affairs happen way more often than we’d like them to.
They’re not all that unusual—I mean, two people who have a lot in common spending a big portion of their day together?
That’s nice and all, but the problem emerges when they’re not single; several people who partake in office romances are cheating on a significant other.
Thinking that your wife is having an affair with her co-worker will lead you down a spiral of negative thoughts, that’s why you first need to be certain that this is the case!
Workplace affairs: How often do they happen and what are the statistics?
According to ForbesAdvisor, people often start workplace romances—actually, over 60% of adults claim to have experienced it.
And the thing we were wondering about the most: around 40% of people have had an affair with a coworker!
This is, sadly, a larger number of people who not only disrespect their partners, but also conduct unprofessionalism.
I know all of these statistics probably aren’t making you feel any better, but we need to mention all the facts—the fact is that your gut may be trying to tell you something!
If you’re sure that your spouse is part of this percentage, keep in mind that there’s only so much she and her co-worker can do to hide their affair!
All signs will point to infidelity.
How do affairs with a co-worker start? Depending, it may be a slow burn or an escalation of things.
Just like every other type of affair, workplace ones have their own flow—but that all depends on the cheaters involved.
As I said, because of how much time two colleagues spend together, a development of feelings might take place.
A workplace affair may start with two people unintentionally developing stronger feelings for each other: things get more intense as time goes by.
They spend a lot of time together; as connection grows more intimate, that’s when things stop being platonic!
A secret affair starts with time.
Aside from a slow-burn affair, two co-workers could escalate things due to mutual, instant attraction.
No further thought is given and they immediately start cheating.
Workplace affair signs—Is your wife cheating at work?
If your wife is cheating at her workplace, no matter the pace, she will behave in an atypical way—that behavior will help you discover infidelity, if there is any!
Here are 19 signs your wife is cheating at work!
1. There’s one co-worker she refers to as her “work husband”.
The idea of a “work spouse” has always been weird to me!
I mean, I see how two single people going around calling each other their work spouse is cute, but a married person?
If your wife has been calling her co-worker her work husband, then, to some degree, they’re close.
Or she’s attracted to him—it’s assumable that they spend a lot of time together and banter often since they’re comfortable enough to flirt with each other.
Regardless of what she says, it’s not normal to behave this way with a person other than you, her actual husband.
2. She and this co-worker are way too close to each other!
They go out often together and seem to always be in each other’s presence.
They banter and flirt so often to the point you’re sure that they look more like a couple to people than the two of you.
Your wife spends more time with him than with you, and she seems to be enjoying it.
Boundaries have completely disappeared—she’s way too close to him.
3. He calls and texts her all the time.
Speaking of blurry boundaries, it’s not appropriate for him to be texting her this often outside of work hours!
Whenever you peep at her phone, you’re always greeted by her colleague’s notification popping up.
He’s always reaching out to her for a conversation, and by the looks of it, it’s not casual, friendly chat.
He even calls her, and not for business-related topics!
Aside from the fact it’s way too suspicious for them to be talking this much, the inappropriate language is where the line is drawn.
4. She keeps hiding her phone from you.
And if your wife is having an affair with her co-worker, they have probably been texting a lot, hence the need to hide her phone from you.
She doesn’t let you use her phone and she sets it on silent mode—she hides it whenever she’s sleeping.
The few times you had the opportunity to look at her phone, she was texting him, and ever since then, she’s been extra cautious.
5. When you and your wife are talking, her colleague always comes up one way or another.
Unintentionally or not, she’s always talking about him.
She talks about how impressive and funny he is, and how she enjoys work when he’s there!
In other words, you always find yourself annoyed whenever your wife is complimenting him—and quite frankly, I’m with you.
Even when she’s not giving him an ego boost, his name always comes up; it definitely sounds like they spend a lot of time together.
6. She might also completely avoid his topic.
Her trying her hardest to avoid talking about him is another sign!
She’s trying to not spark any suspicions on her part—distancing herself from her co-worker as much as possible in your mind.
If she’s cheating with him, she won’t feel comfortable talking about it as you might catch on to what’s going on.
Your wife might be paranoid about accidentally exposing herself or noticeably looking like she has a thing for her co-worker.
7. Your wife stopped inviting you to her work’s social gatherings.
Her work often plans events, and you were always her +1, but lately, she has stopped inviting you to them.
This is clearly very concerning, and a workplace romance might be what’s causing it.
There’s this one co-worker she doesn’t want you to meet—letting you two start a conversation might lead to her getting caught.
If the other people in her office have noticed their secret affair, you will eventually hear about it through gossip.
8. She says she’s going on “business trips” lately.
Your spouse has been going on a lot of business trips lately, but you suspect she might be lying!
Work trips are a cheater’s favorite excuse—it’s believable enough and it explains having that one coworker there.
She can stay with him as much as she wants and have you not suspect a thing—it is a business trip after all, and her colleague is part of the team.
If they’re having an affair, doing so away from you (and his spouse, if he has one) is the perfect plan.
9. Your spouse is working until very late—this isn’t her schedule.
She claims her reason for coming home late is that she’s been working a lot, but you already confirmed that’s not true.
She’s most likely lying, using her work as an excuse; even if she’s seen alone with her co-worker, it won’t be suspicious.
She may be purposely volunteering to work until late to have the opportunity to spend more time with him—or she’s actually busy!
10. She picks up extra shifts!
Be wary! She might have other reasons for picking up more shifts.
But if she suddenly started enjoying working overtime even though she would complain every day about it, her co-worker might be why!
She jumps at the opportunity to pick up extra shifts so that she can spend more time with him; she might even try to align her schedule with his so that they have more time together.
11. She suddenly enjoys going to work.
It’s a good thing when people like what they do—it instantly makes their mood better.
So if your wife has always enjoyed her job, pay no attention to this sign!
On the other hand, if she always complains about not wanting to go to work but has changed ever since a co-worker’s arrival, then she may have a thing for him.
He has the power to instantly make her have a good time, so that colleague must mean a lot to her.
And if on top of everything they spend a big portion of their time together, the suspicions become even stronger.
12. She smells like that specific coworker’s perfume.
You met him and you remember his cologne—she comes home smelling exactly like it.
Out of all the people who work there, somehow his scent stuck to her, and this usually happens when two people spend a lot of time together.
Sure, it could mean that they simply work close to each other, in the same department, but be watchful!
They could be meeting after work hours or even acting inappropriately in the break room.
13. They’re often in the break room together.
And speaking of the break room…
She and her co-worker spend a lot of time in the break room together, alone: not something you want to think about, but this is where unprofessional, inappropriate behavior makes its appearance.
I don’t see you finding this information out unless you and your partner work in the same place or an outside source told you, but if you somehow know this is true, don’t dismiss it!
14. She accidentally calls you by his name!
Nothing screams “I’m thinking of another person!” more than constantly calling your partner another person’s name—we’ve all had a partner make that mistake.
If your wife always seems to have you confused with her co-worker, then they most likely talk a lot together.
She mentions his name often, and it is engraved in her brain.
This doesn’t mean that your wife is 100% cheating, however, it does sound like they’re often together—it doesn’t hurt to be cautious!
15. Whenever you visit her at work, all of the other co-workers act weird!
If it’s ever happened for you to drop by her work and for everybody to act extremely awkward around you, then it might be that they know about your wife’s secret romance.
They keep occasionally glancing at you and gossiping with each other—you heard a couple of words here and there having to do with your wife and the mysterious co-worker.
16. Your wife has just started changing her appearance for work.
She’s only now started getting dolled up for work—this has been going on ever since that specific man started working with her!
She’s taking longer to get ready:
- She’s trying out different make-up looks;
- She gives more importance to her outfits;
- She never leaves the house without styling her hair;
- She’s buying new clothes;
- She’s been experimenting with new, alluring perfumes.
This new habit of hers could be coming from her workplace crush—if she’s having an affair, she would want to look good for her affair partner.
17. Her demeanor has changed: she’s cold and distant.
She doesn’t treat you the way she did lately—by “lately” I mean ever since that co-worker came to the scene.
She’s put a stop to romance and intimacy in your marriage: she’s very cold and distant, almost distracted.
If nothing else has provoked this change, then think of it as a sign.
Has she been acting this way ever since meeting him? If so, she might have some sort of feelings for him.
18. When you express your discomfort about them being this close, your wife reacts very negatively.
You keep mentioning over and over again to your wife that she and her co-worker being this close makes you really uncomfortable, but she pays no attention to it.
She does nothing to stop it or even to reassure you that nothing’s going on—or she does, but she’s obviously lying!
She might even get really aggressive when you bring him up: she yells at you, tries to blame you for her behavior, or might panic when you confront her.
If she’s getting this overwhelmed about these very reasonable concerns, then something is probably up with those two.
19. She definitely treats him better than you.
It all boils down to how your wife is differentiating you from her co-worker—does she clearly treat him better than you?
If so, it’s clear that she has feelings for him, and an affair can be born from this (if it hasn’t already).
When we give it a thought, it’s very inappropriate for a married person to be acting this with, essentially, a stranger.
If you want to know for sure if your partner is cheating, this is one of the important signs to look out for.
Workplace romances are common… we need to stay alert!
If your spouse matches all the signs I’ve mentioned above, then an office romance may be happening.
Cheaters tend to be very careful around their partners—it’s impossible to not bring that part of their jobs home, though!
So if your wife is having an affair with a colleague, you won’t be completely oblivious to it.
Good luck!