The Work Christmas Party – How to Avoid a Legal Hangover
It’s that time of year again! Getting together for a Christmas party is a great way to celebrate the end of the working year and reward your team.
However, it is important to remember that the party is still a “work function” and employers need to be mindful of legal implications and risks that come with it.
The Risks
Any work function is legally an extension of your workplace, even if it is held offsite and outside working hours and as an employer, you have a continued legal duty to provide a safe environment for your employees.
Christmas parties provide employees with the opportunity to have a few drinks and socialise in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. However, the mix of alcohol and an informal atmosphere inevitably increases the risk of injuries and inappropriate behaviour such as sexual harassment and bullying,
Tips for Employers
As an employer, you can’t stop claims from being made against you, but you can take several preventative steps to reduce the risk of liability.
Before the function
Send a notification to your team, reminding them that:
- The Christmas party is a work function and that their behaviour at the party, must comply with the company’s policies and procedures, e.g. code of conduct, sexual harassment and bullying and;
- They need to make travel arrangements to get home safely at the end of the function, and not to drive if they have consumed alcohol over the legal limit.
NOTE: As a safer alternative, you should consider arranging transport for your employees to and from the venue. Many organisations offer a taxi voucher to staff who may wish to have more than a couple of drinks and who request one. Alternatively, you may wish to organise employees into car or taxi pools so that staff who live in the same direction or area share a ride home. This is especially true if the party is held at a location where public transport is not available nearby.
Alcohol consumption
- Control over-consumption by practising responsible service of alcohol. Ensure that there is sufficient food available from the start of the function.
- Ensure a plentiful supply of alcohol-free alternatives and water.
- Avoid having a ‘help-your-self bar’ – Always supervise the dispense of alcohol.
- Keep an eye out for younger members of staff – Do not allow under-18s to drink.
Note: If you are having the party at home, arrange an external person, trained in the Responsible Service of Alcohol to dispense drinks, not a staff member. This will avoid the scenario of workers putting pressure on another worker to serve more drinks.
Catering
Be accommodating, not discriminatory. Ask about any special dietary requirements so that these can be accommodated.
Drugs
It is illegal for an employer to knowingly permit or even to ignore the use or supply of any drugs during a work function.
Social Media
With social media, the risk is that you have a much far broader audience if things go wrong. For example, party photos may appear on social media, displaying raunchy behaviour by someone or a group of people. Some people may think the photos are funny. But it’s not at all funny when that photo or post becomes a critical piece of evidence in a sexual harassment or bullying case…
Incidents and complaints
Nominate a person from your management team (who must stay sober) to supervise the Christmas party and deal with any issues which arise at the event.
However, things may still go wrong at the party. If so, don’t attempt to discipline employees at the party itself. Send them home if necessary and deal with the incident when you are back at work.
If a later complaint arises about behaviour at the party, you need to make sure that the complaint is dealt with and investigated promptly. You also need to ensure that when an investigation takes place, employees are afforded procedural fairness by fully explaining any allegations made against them and an opportunity to respond.
The day after
If a working day follows your event, be clear about your expectations regarding absenteeism the next day.
Further information
If you take some simple precautions, the Christmas party can be a fun and relaxed way for you and your team to celebrate a year of hard work. Let’s start the new year in a positive way, not looking for a new job, new staff – or worse, appearing in court.
If you need assistance to prepare for your Christmas party or deal with any issues which arise from the Christmas party, contact the team at Cairns HR Services for assistance.