Q. You often see two colleagues flirting with each other in the office, and their behaviour offends you. What can you do?

A. Speak up. Paul A. Falzone, chief executive of eLove, a dating service in New York, said that the moment flirting at work begins to affect your concentration, you need to take action. “Your job is your livelihood,” Falzone said. “If someone or something is interfering with that scenario, it’s time to be more assertive.”

Q. What behaviour constitutes consensual flirting?

A.At most workplaces, interactions like a wink, a bashful smile or a brief touch may be considered harmless. Still, there’s a fine line between friendly behaviour and inappropriate innuendo. Scott Kudia, president of the Kudia Company, a relationship consulting firm, said that joking about sexual intimacy and soliciting after-hours dates could be considered overkill. He added that employees who engage in displays of affection, like massaging, hugging and groping have gone too far.

Q. Is such overt behaviour acceptable in an office environment?

A. Never. Bob Kustka, president of the Fusion Factor, a consulting firm in Norwell, says that while it’s perfectly reasonable for employees to gravitate toward those they see most often, there is plenty of time for them to fraternise outside the office. Many companies have sexual-harassment policies that protect against a “hostile” work environment that may result from certain kinds of flirting.

Q. To whom should you raise your objections?

A. If you feel comfortable discussing the subject with the colleagues themselves, approach the two privately and tell them how you feel. Specify the behaviour that upsets you, and politely ask them to stop. Of course, if at least one of the two has a spouse at home, the situation may be more complex. Applebaum said that in such a case, if you confront your colleagues directly, it is important not to meddle or to judge them. “The relationship between these people and their husbands or wives is none of your business,” she said. “All you should worry about is the flirting and how that makes you feel.”

Another option is to take complaints directly to the boss. Evelyn Cogan, professor of business law at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, said that employees pursuing this route might want to compile a chronological list of offending incidents to document a pattern. “The more you can tell your employer about the situation, the more they’ll have to go on when they investigate things for themselves,” she said.

Q. How should you expect your colleagues to react?

A. That depends on your workplace and your relationship with the pair. If you are close friends with both, and they were not aware that their flirting was irksome, they may be grateful that you brought the issue to their attention. If you are not too friendly with them, they may respond scornfully. If other colleagues find out what you’ve done about the situation, their reactions are likely to be mixed. Some may applaud the strength of your convictions; others may label you as a tattletale or a prude.

Q. Can people lose their jobs for flirting at work?

A. Absolutely. Heather Brock, a lawyer at the law firm of Fowler White Boggs Banker in Tampa, said that companies in some states might be required to start a sexual-harassment investigation the moment an employee complains about the situation to a boss or to human resources. Generally, Brock said, the investigation process ends in some form of discipline for the offending party or parties. In some cases, this amounts to probation or sensitivity training. In other cases, because most companies retain employees at will, the situation could end in dismissal. “Depending on the climate at your company, the punishment for simple flirting can be pretty significant if your behaviour annoys the wrong person,” Brock said. “When employees consider what’s at stake, one would hope that it makes them think twice about flirting at all.”