It’s that time of year again! How quickly those end of year functions have crept upon us.
Getting your employees together for a work Christmas party is a great way to celebrate the end of the working year, however it is important to remember that Christmas parties are a “work function” and employers need to be mindful of their continued duty to their employees and their liability for events that occur during the event.
We don't want to take the fun out of these celebrations and you want your team to enjoy themselves; however, a relaxed and sociable environment mixed with alcohol means that there is an increased chance of risky and/or inappropriate behaviour. The festive season is an important time to remind your employees of your Company's expected standards of behaviour.
With smartphones more ubiquitous than ever, employers are now also often faced with a documentary record of all the incidents. It’s also not simply what people did at a work function that could land them into trouble, it is more complicated and can include publicly expressed opinions, photos and recordings posted online. With a warning that not everyone shares the same sense of humour, 'Secret Santa' along with fancy dress have now also joined the list of seasonal risk factors.
To minimise this, here are a few practical steps that we suggest you follow to ensure a good and safe time is had by all.
- Manage the flow of alcohol by ensuring the venue has adopted responsible service of alcohol and inquire how they will implement it.
- Consider additional risks associated with venues that are in inaccessible or dangerous locations or harbour cruises, which seem to be in a class of their own.
- Send a notification to all staff in the days leading up to the function reminding them of behaviour that is acceptable and the arrangements for the event.
- Make the message clear that onsite or offsite events, whether a client Christmas party, a team lunch or a corporate box at the cricket, do not mean standards of behaviour slip.
- Arrange for a designated time for drinks to finish and the party to end.
- Discourage ‘kick on events’ and advise that any which occur are not sanctioned.
- Have a system in place for transport home.
- Ensure there is a ‘go to’ person at the event should advice or help be needed. This person would monitor general conduct, venue and safety issues.
- Check that your policies, procedures, codes of conduct are unambiguous and set clear expectations.
- Remind employees to refresh their knowledge of relevant Company policies
- Establish a framework for recording and managing all incidents and complaints – do not ignore complaints.
- Keep an eye on social media postings to ensure that your organisation nor any attendees are brought into disrepute by inappropriate social media postings of the function.
End of year functions can produce challenging issues for employers so speak to us for advice and to ensure your policies cover work-related but 'out of hours' conduct and conduct away from the work premises. Your HRdocs subscribers can download an updated Christmas / End of Year Staff Party Letter reminding employees about expectations at end of year functions.