Workplace Parties – Do You Know How To Stay Off The (Christmas Party) Naughty List?

We all like parties…

But they can also lead to headaches.

A relaxed atmosphere, alcohol, hot temperatures and people wanting to let off some steam – it’s a combination that can be a lot of fun but can also lead to trouble if employers don’t take precautions. They can also be an opportunity for inappropriate themes, venues and messaging.

Employers must beware…

We hate to be a party pooper but unfortunately, if you are a business owner, human resource manager or in charge of risk, and you’re organising an office party you need to consider your exposure to liabilities.

Work parties can be considered a workplace activity. It’s a work party, after all. That means occupational health and safety, workers’ compensation, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination obligations still apply.

Then there are obligations to make sure people get home safe and you’ll want to avoid claims from other people. Your employees could break someone else’s property. Or someone, like an invited guest, could get seriously injured in an accident.

You need to get your foundations right.

Here are 4 things to consider to stay off the Naughty List

1. Consider your risks and have a plan.

Considering your risks is essential. If you haven’t already you should update your risk management plan with respect to your event, and it goes without saying, that if you don’t have a risk management plan at all you should definitely have one. Safe Work Australia provides a step by step process to assist with this process.

2. Check your policies

While this may be a rather boring beginning to the party planning process, we recommend you review your existing HR policies to make sure they cover subject matters like alcohol and drug use, bullying and harassment (including sexual harassment), social media use and grievance and disciplinary procedures. In fact, this is a great opportunity to carry out a review.

Make sure your staff are suitably aware of these policies, have received training and understand their obligations.  You should also remind staff of these policies when issuing an invitation to the event.

Policies (and the reminder to staff of such policies) can help you avoid instances of poor behaviour, and if an issue does arise, put you in a better position to pursue disciplinary action.

Having policies in place may form part of your risk management plan.

Minimise your risk. Advertise the party as a work function. It’s difficult to argue workplace policies don’t apply then.

You may also want to consider having a dedicated Functions Policy in place to cover expectations of behaviour from staff at company events, and also at any events for clients to which your staff may have been invited. We’ve included a link to a complimentary Functions Policy at the end of this article.

3. Set clear expectations of behaviour

Setting clear expectations of behaviour, particularly with leaders and management is key to your risk management, as they drive the culture and can have a large influence on behaviour of their team members and junior staff.

Don’t assume employees will act appropriately.  You should remind your employees that while it is a social occasion, it is still a work event, and your company’s policies and procedures will still apply. If you have a dress code or theme, you should communicate your expectations to your employees regarding appropriate dress. If you are expecting staff to be in costumes for a theme, you should communicate to your staff the importance of ensuring any costumes is appropriate, and will not bring the Company into disrepute.

If you will be serving or allowing the consumption of alcohol, you should sure adequate food is served, and that RSA guidelines are adhered to.

Depending on the size of your organisation, you may wish to designate sober support personnel for the event, who will be able to deal with any issues that may arise and help in the event staff become intoxicated.

4. Communicate the plan to your staff

Have a clear end time for your event and advise your employees that any informal after parties are not sponsored, facilitated or encouraged by the business. You should also make sure any managers do not take their teams for drinks after the event using the company card, as this can expose the company to liability in the event there are any issues at this ‘after party’.

You should communicate clear start and end times of the event to your staff and consider transport arrangements. If you are planning on providing transport at any time before or after the event you should let your staff know as soon as possible.

If you do not intend on providing transport, this should also be communicated to staff well in advance, so that arrangements can be made for staff to return home safely. If alcohol is served at the event, reminders should be issued to staff advising them not to drive.

Send around a polite email, reminding employees about standards of behaviour. It’s also a chance to get an update: dietary requirements, allergies, ensure emergency contact details are updated. Let staff know who will be ‘in charge’ if there are any HR related issues occurring on the night which may require swift attention.

8 things to contemplate as part of your risk assessment

1. Could someone be offended, and could this risk be mitigated?

Simply holding a Christmas or Holiday Party is very unlikely to be a problem in itself. But there are cultural and religious issues to consider. For example, some religions don’t permit drinking alcohol, or eating certain types of food. You should be mindful that any event does not inadvertently exclude or isolate members of staff.

2. Food, drinks, venues, themes

Think about the venue. Will all your employees feel safe and welcome there? Will there be a theme? If so, is the theme inappropriate? Are there risks it could be interpreted in a manner that damages the reputation of the business?

If you are having a theme, communication of expectations to staff members is key to making sure everyone understands what is and is not appropriate attire.

If your business has offices in different states, be mindful that there might be difficult micro cultures that you are dealing with and what might be acceptable or common place to one office might not be acceptable or tolerated in another.

Have options for food and drinks – vegetarian; non-drinkers; even healthy options are a good way to go. Most venues these days are able to provide catering options for all dietary restrictions including allergens. Make sure you clearly communicate with the venue about any dietary concerns and put it in writing. Requesting dietary information from guests and providing that information to the restaurant or venue is particularly key to making sure everyone enjoys themselves!

Do you have a headache yet? And we haven’t even got to the Alcohol.

3. Alcohol

Remember it’s a work function. Does your company have policies relating to alcohol? Check them first. Then consider any possible ramifications that might arise from having alcohol at the event. If alcohol is supplied, make sure you are also serving food.

If you are supplying the alcohol, have you considered how to make sure people partake responsibly, and how people will get home?

You still have obligations to ensure a safe working environment at a holiday party and opting for a venue designed for parties (staffed with people with RSA certifications) can be one way to lower risk. If alcohol will be served, you should make sure your pre-event messaging to staff members attending the event provides them with information on how to get to and from the venue (by means other than by driving).

4. After parties

You may have planned a sensible end of year holiday event, however there is a risk that it can all come un-done by behaviour at (HR) un-sanctioned after party events. Particular risks arise where a manager may take their team out for more drinks after the end of the function, in a smaller group. Where such an invite comes from a manager or leader, there may be an implication that the ‘after party’ is sanctioned by the employer.

Whilst there is a limit to what you as an employer can do to prevent employees from going out together in smaller groups afterwards, you should:

• set out in your messaging clear start and end times of the work function; and
• speak with managers and business leaders about the appropriateness of any ‘after party’ events and impress upon those persons that their conduct (and that of their invitees or employees) may still be considered as being connected to the workplace.

5. Sickies…

An employee’s contract, award or agreement might allow you to make deductions for lateness or being absent the next day. But consider morale too. Plan ahead. Starting at lunch and giving employees the afternoon off is one option to be accommodating – and leave no excuses for not showing up the next day.

6. Social media. Surely a few photos can’t hurt?

Your employees might like to post everything all over their social media – but do you? Will there be any problems for your business? The problems can range from inappropriate behaviour to loss of clients.

Then there’s confidential information. That “funny client story” might end up costing your business. You’ll need strategies. A designated photo booth/photo area can be a fun controlled alternative. Or hire a photographer so people can concentrate on having fun and so you can have some control over the photos.

7. From cameras to corro…

It’s the silly season. So, people go silly. From funny emails to office gossip about what someone’s going to wear, things can go downhill quickly. You might need to act or collect evidence but there are laws on what you can access and when. Do you have a Workplace Surveillance Policy? Do you know when you can use it?

8. ICE

That is, In Case of Emergency – just in case you were wondering. If something goes wrong, who do you contact? Who is in charge?

Again, (we cannot stress this enough), if you know alcohol will be served, you need to make sure this is managed properly as this presents one of the big risk factors for things going terribly wrong. Consider having team members who (on a volunteer basis ideally), will remain sober and be able to take appropriate action should an issue arise.

Staying off the naughty list…

While an end of year Christmas or Holiday party can be a wonderful way to boost team morale and reward your employees for their hard work all year, if you are unprepared or the event is poorly planned, you can be left with a larger and far more expensive headache than from what you would get from a bottle of celebratory champagne.

So, to make sure you and your staff stay off the naughty list this year remember these key things:

1. Consider and minimise your risk.
2. Review your policies.
3. Set expectations.
4. Communicate.

Then get the party started. Happy holidays!

Here is a complimentary template for a workplace functions policy.

If you have any questions about this or any other workplace matter, call to speak with our team of experienced employment law lawyers at 1300 80 67 80.

Contacting us or downloading information or documents from our site does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor/client relationship. If your matter is urgent, please call us on 1300 80 67 80