As a successful professional or somebody with career ambitions, you probably know that everything from your attendance to the way that your superiors perceive you can influence your upward trajectory at a job. Getting a divorce can absolutely damage your career and your hopes of advancement in the near future. In fact, divorce can affect your job in two very noteworthy and separate ways.
Familiarizing yourself with the potential impact of divorce on your job can help you make better decisions while going through a divorce, such as using litigation alternatives as a means to reduce the impact of the end of your marriage on your career stability.
A messy divorce could mean airing your dirty laundry publicly
When people get divorced, issues like infidelity, marital arguments or substance abuse can absolutely influence both the decision to divorce and the outcome that someone expects from the court. If you or your ex will be making claims about infidelity, financial irresponsibility or other potentially harmful decisions, having that testimony become part of the public record could also easily impact how your superiors, subordinates and co-workers view you at work.
Addressing those issues in mediation or during collaborative law negotiations instead of in court can help keep those embarrassing details out of the public record.
Litigate a divorce might mean missing a lot of work
One of the first things professionals have to do when they find out they’re getting divorced is usually to let Human Resources know. The HR team will need to help the worker make changes to tax paperwork, prepared to make adjustments to the benefits someone receives or pays for and anticipates the potential for multiple days off do the court proceeding.
The longer court stretches out during your divorce, the greater the impact it will potentially have on the way that your employer precedes you and your commitment to your job. Again, alternative dispute resolution tactics can help with this issue by allowing freeze faster divorce and thus minimizing the amount of time you’ll have to miss from the job.