It really is a shame that both main dates in the inappropriate behaviour season fall so close together. It only leaves HR practitioners with the warm weather to look forward to, when strict reminders can be issued about the amount and location of bare flesh permissible in the office.

The Times has already given us 20 reasons to hate Valentine's Day. But, of course, to these might well be added a warning that – though many of us meet our partners at work – the mixture of romance and too close a working relationship is fraught with dangers.

Over recent years it has become obvious that many UK employers are unsure how to react to this sort of thing. After all, where do you draw the line? Secret liaisons that only result in out-of-office trysts, heavy flirting round the water cooler, or married couples working together?

Just a few years back, the TUC issued a warning that UK companies were following their US counterparts in drawing up "love contracts", shifting responsibility for any problems that might arise onto individual employees or simply banning them from getting too close to each other.

But there is also evidence that UK employers are relatively relaxed about the idea of people having a personal life that overlaps with work.

When IRS last carried out a survey on workplace relationships (subscription required) a couple of years back, we found that very few employers thought there was a problem – at least, not up to the point where public displays of affection started to get a bit too annoying for everyone else.

Is that good enough? Where does a Human Rights Act respect for personal life shade into turning a blind eye to sexual harassment? When IRS spoke to Peter Mooney of the Employment

Law Advisory Services for our report, he warned that even Valentine's cards, "like any comment of a romantic or sexual nature", can lead to legal action.

He added: "Treating a complaint seriously after the event - while it may placate some people - may not be enough to avoid landing at a tribunal."

To help you through this minefield, XpertHR can offer both a Legal Q&A on office romances (subscription required) and a model policy on personal relationships at work (subscription required). Now, isn't that better than some wilted roses and a box of Dairy Milk?

Photo: Valentine's Day Stash by Leonard Low