It may feel like just yesterday you finished finding new ways to serve your leftover Christmas ham but, believe it or not, Christmas 2022 is just around the corner and the annual festivities are once again underway.
‘Tis the season for staff Christmas parties, Secret Santas, and corporate gifts and while all these things are usually organised with the best of intentions, they can quickly land employers on the ‘naughty list’ if not managed properly.
Follow these simple – but important – tips to avoid getting your tinsel in a tangle this festive season.
They don’t call it the silly season for nothing
Alcohol combined with a party atmosphere increases the chances of safety-related incidents, as well as other risks, including sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination. As an employer putting on a function, you are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of attending employees, so encourage your people to have fun at the Christmas do, but to leave no reason for regrets.
If discrimination or harassment does occur at a work function that is organised or sponsored by your organisation, you are likely to be vicariously liable for such behaviour, unless you can demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps to reduce, mitigate, and manage any breaches of conduct.
Make yourself a list, and check it twice…
DO…
… Consult your organisation’s sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination policy and check it covers employee behaviour at social events and makes it clear that any form of misconduct, such as bullying, sexual harassment, violence, or discrimination in the workplace is not tolerated. Communicate this policy with your team in the days preceding the function.
… Consider drafting a policy on workplace behaviour specific to workplace social events.
… Send a reminder memo out to all staff before your Christmas function. Make sure it communicates all the details of the function and reminds them of the need for appropriate behaviour.
… Specify an end time for your Christmas party. Adding an end time increases the likelihood of employees sticking around and making the most of the opportunity to socialise and enjoy each other’s company. This is great for team morale and engagement and makes your Christmas party a positive workplace investment.
… Take some great photos of the event. These can help bond team members when used on notice boards, or in staff newsletters. Make sure you let the team know photos will be taken at the event, and get their consent before you get too snap happy.
… Consider organising some fun activities to have at the event. For example, a competition involving photos of all staff as babies, which team members must identify their colleagues from!
… Let staff know that non-alcoholic drinks will be available at the function. Ensure there is plenty of water available too.
… Be across the detail of other employee-planned Christmas events. Make sure you oversee and have final approval of any other employee-organised functions, such as social club-sponsored events, as your organisation is ultimately responsible for the safe conduct of such functions and is potentially vicariously liable for anything negative that might occur as a result of them.
… Consider the appropriateness and safety of the venue. Will the venue ensure safe service of alcohol? If you have employees under 18 years of age, ensure the servers understand these individuals must not be served alcoholic drinks. Check the venue is accessible by all employees and guests (e.g. mobility impaired friendly), and consider the ambience of the venue and the type of behaviour it might encourage.
… Ensure your organisation has an assigned senior staff member present to monitor employee alcohol consumption and behaviour at the event. This person should not be consuming alcohol and should have sufficient authority to ‘have a quiet word’ when necessary to limit, or stop individuals drinking.
… Lay down the Secret Santa ground rules. If you organise a Secret Santa (or Kris Kringle), ensure employees understand that any gifts they purchase must be ‘G’ rated. This means that the recipient, or anyone else who will see or hear about the present, should not have cause for offence which could lead to a possible breach of your sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination policy. All gifts must be family viewing.
DON’T…
… Continue to serve drinks to alcohol-impaired employees. This may lead to liabilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Such liabilities could also extend to an accident involving an employee who is travelling home from a work function.
… Allow drinking and driving. Those nominated to oversee the safety of the event should have sufficient taxi vouchers to ensure the safe passage home of anyone suspected of being above, or near, the legal alcohol limit. Consider including the cost of taxi vouchers in your Christmas function budget and offer a voucher to all staff who may wish to have more than a couple of drinks, or who request travel assistance. Alternatively, your organisation may wish to organise employees into ‘end of function’ taxi pools, so that staff who live in the same direction or area can share a taxi home.
… Blow your budget on alcohol. If your organisation does not have an appropriate food budget i.e., one that is sufficient to cover a meal for each employee, you should reduce the alcohol budget proportionately and ensure safe service. Regardless of food portion sizes, you must provide a range of non-alcoholic drink options. Ask your team to notify you of any dietary requirements. Ensure there are vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options available.
…Turn a blind eye to other, third-party events. Many employees also attend the functions of third-party businesses, particularly at Christmas. For example, a manager may attend a string of parties or events held by advisers, suppliers, or contractors to your organisation. These events present the same risk and liability issues as internal functions, so ensure any employees attending outside gatherings during the course of their employment understand the required standard of conduct. You may wish to consider providing taxi vouchers to ensure their safe passage home from these events too.
Have more questions?
A quick brush up on your obligations whilst hosting social events can go a long way, so feel free to get in touch to discuss any employment law or HR support queries. Our initial chat is always free, and if you decide you’d like some independent, impartial and up-to-date support, you can make use of our qualified HR and employment law expertise for as little as an hour, or as long as you’d like. It’s up to you.