Tis the season… for employers to come a cropper at the work Christmas party!

It’s that time of year where 4 little words strike fear into the heart of the HR department, “the work Christmas party”.  The CEO wants free drinks all round, followed by shots and all the good times.  The HR director aka “the fun police” wants a sensible limit on drinks and no shots. 

Its not that HR don’t like a drink, I can only speak for myself of course but personally I love a good night out!  The trouble is any HR professional you meet will have a Christmas party story of doom to share.  For instance, there was the time an employee got so drunk, they striped off and ran naked round the dancefloor, or the time after the party where the Company was banned from ever booking the coach company again due to the river of vomit which cascaded down the aisle, their words.  There was the punch up between senior managers, the time someone threw bread rolls at the MD and whilst these are the amusing stories there have also been the serious complaints.

The problem is, work parties, Christmas ones or otherwise, are a law employment minefield waiting to happen.  To illustrate this point there have been a number of employment tribunals.  Sexual harassment which took place at a pub and was deemed to be in the “course of work”.  In the course of work being defined as events which occur after work with a group of employees or are organised work events. 

The cases of dismissal happening due to the behaviour of intoxicated employees which have subsequently been deemed unfair at tribunal due to the unlimited free alcohol which was provided by the employer.  Then however, there was an incident of a fight at the end of a work Christmas party resulting in dismissal which was upheld.  This demonstrates that it is acceptable for misconduct at work events to be dealt with, provided it can be proved it had an effect on the work environment.  There was the devastating case of an MD causing an employee brain damage when he punched him and despite the fact it was a separate after the party, party, because the MD was paying and given his seniority the tribunal found him to be liable.

Then of course there’s employees being AWOL after the Christmas party.  The not so harmless gossip, for which there is case law resulting in an employee winning a case for constructive dismissal, after she was the subject of gossip following a Christmas party.  And drunken promises of a pay increases which also led to a claim for constructive dismissal, when it did not materialise,  Whilst this was not upheld, claims are costly to defend.

So how to have a good time and not find yourself nursing more than a hangover the next day.  Well, it goes without saying that you must ensure you have your policies up to date, especially the disciplinary one which outlines what constitutes gross misconduct including AWOL.

Christmas parties should not be mandatory not everyone wants to attend but they should be inclusive, make sure you cater for those who don’t drink or eat certain foods.

Be clear on what is unacceptable behaviour and what the consequences will be.

Make sure managers are responsible for their staff, someone still needs to be monitoring events and ensuring things don’t get out of hand.  Consider limiting drinks it may at least slow down the drinking and consider what should be freely on offer, i.e doubles, shots etc

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Employers have the best of intentions when it comes to Christmas parties, they want to treat employees to a free night out and celebrate the end of the year.  The trouble is as an employer you are still responsible for the behaviour of your staff at what is ultimately an extension of the working day, throw unlimited alcohol in the mix and things can get out of hand. Having boundaries and clearly outlining the expected behaviour from staff is not being a party pooper but making sure that everyone has fun and that HR have nothing to do the following day!  Put these things in place and hopefully you can enjoy a stress free party.