Forties People

But is your Christmas Party going to be a real cracker – or will it end in dismissals, litigation and recriminations? Follow our simple guide to make it a night to remember – for all the right reasons...

A while ago, a survey of managers highlighted their fears that their office Christmas parties would lead to employment tribunal claims because of bad staff behaviour.
Most believed employees drank too much and three quarters said a member of staff had threatened to take a case to an employment tribunal because of an incident at a Christmas party. Almost nine out of 10 said they had received complaints from employees about the behaviour of colleagues.

So what can be done to avoid such disasters? And how can such precautions be balanced with the need to deliver an enjoyable event which has the desired effect – usually to thank the staff for their efforts during the course of the year?

Recognising the potential dangers is the first step, and taking proactive steps to avoid areas of conflict will prevent the majority of incidents.

The most common areas for complaint are:

• excessive drinking
• inappropriate approaches and behaviour of a ‘romantic’ nature!
• racial and religious offence
• consequences of over-indulgence, including staff absences the next day.

Excessive drinking

If you aren’t careful, the Christmas bash can become a focal point for binge drinking, especially when the company is picking up the tab. And each year, hundreds of thousands of employees take sick leave due to overindulgence at the office party, costing businesses millions of pounds in lost productivity.

And in addition to the embarrassment and illness it can cause to the drinker, drunkenness also tends to be a contributory factor to other problems such as inappropriate advances to other staff members and damage in the office, venue or transportation.

So what can you do to keep it fun, but keep it from turning nasty?

• choose a venue and theme the event in a way that doesn’t put drinking at the heart of everything – if staff are engaged in other enjoyable activities (dancing, singing, watching a show, etc) they are less likely to drink excessively;
• don’t provide an open bar; providing each staff member with a ticket entitling them to two drinks may not seem like goodwill to all men, but it can avoid lots of problems;
• adopt a responsible service of alcohol policy and ensure that you provide non or low alcoholic drinks. If a person has had too much to drink, refuse to serve them. Never have employees involved in serving alcohol;
• consider having the party on a week night rather than a Friday or the day before the office closes for the Christmas break;
• provide suitable amounts of food, and include foods that slow the absorption of alcohol, such as those high in protein or starch. Greasy or salty foods make people want to drink more alcohol, so avoid them;
• provide transport to and from the event, so you can control the finish time;
• choose an off-site location which will encourage party-goers to show respect for the environment – and generally the nicer the environment, the greater the tendency to behave properly.

Inappropriate advances

As well as being distressing for the ‘victim’ and highly embarrassing for the perpetrator, unwanted attention can lead to the departure of a key member of staff or even a claim for sexual harassment.

Ahead of the event, employers should remind staff of the boundaries, and should specifically mention inappropriate sexual behaviour and bringing the business into disrepute, even where the actions concerned take place in non-work time.

Racial and religious offence

Whilst no-one wishes to be excessively ‘politically correct’, employers need to consider whether billing the event as a Christmas Party might be, in itself, offensive to any member of staff.

If in any doubt, the safe option is to refer to it as a Festive Celebration, but such contrived terms can be avoided altogether by simply referring to the theme and naming the event as, for example, a Glamorous Casino Night.

And remember when providing food, to offer dishes that are appropriate to any member of staff with special dietary needs – including Halal, kosher, vegetarian and other requirements.

Consequential absence

Communication is the key. In pre-event publicity, include a gentle reminder of the timetable for the following day, with a reiteration of the company policy on absences resulting from self-inflicted absence. You might even consider that opening the office an hour or two later than normal might give staff less of a reason to be completely absent.

So some simple precautions can make any celebration go with a bang. Whatever you do, communicate with everyone well ahead of the big day, and make your expectations clear, including the ending time of the event, so everyone knows when to go home.

And most of all remind everyone that it IS a celebration, and should be enjoyed by one and all! Happy Festive Season everyone!