Christmas Parties – top tips
It’s that time of year again, Christmas. Which means the Works Christmas Do.
So we thought it would be useful to give you as employers some top tips for the occasion.
Top tips for Christmas parties:
– Employment law still applies during any events outside of the workplace. This means that a business is still at risk if any incidents do occur
– Christmas parties should be enjoyable, but don’t make attendance compulsory. Family commitments or religious reasons may preclude attendance
– Consider timing. Putting it on a Wednesday night may mean that bizarrely attendance is down on Thursday
– Invite all employees though. Even those you’ve forgotten about on maternity leave etc
– Circulate a memo reminding your employees of what constitutes acceptable non-discriminatory behaviour, and the disciplinary consequences they will face should they fail to comply
But what if you didn’t do this?
Ok so there are some risks and this is a serious issue, but is a huge policy going to help you? Maybe but also maybe not.
Sadly employees do stupid things, whether it’s at Christmas or not.
Whether they’ve read a policy or not, after 10 pints of lager and half a bottle of free wine they aren’t going to remember it and will likely do as they drunkenly want. It will need to be dealt with, but in reality you cannot legislate for every situation.
So beware – but enjoy
