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Christmas is not only the time to celebrate another year with family and friends, but it is also a time to celebrate your workforce, and your business’ achievements during the year. While Christmas parties can be great for team building and morale, such events are loaded with potential employment law risks.
I’m Hamish Procter from Aitken Legal, and in this video, I am going to give you 5 tips to help you host a fun, but low risk, workplace Christmas party.
In December and January each year, we often take calls from clients who have stories about how their Christmas party went awry. To avoid complaints and claims arising out of your work Christmas party, make sure you implement the following five measures:
1. Set your expectations beforehand – you should ensure that you have current workplace policies such as Drug and Alcohol, Workplace Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination policies that outline your expectations in terms of employee behaviour (including at work functions).
2. Communicate your expectations beforehand – you should ensure that employees have access to the workplace policies, including any complaints or grievance procedure, and have received recent training on those policies. We recommend refresher training on workplace conduct type policies at least every two years.
3. Comply with you your workplace health and safety obligations – assess the location, venue and activities for the Christmas party. Identify potential hazards and assess the risk of an incident occurring. Implement practical measures to reduce the risk of an incident, such as ensuring that there will be adequate food, non-alcoholic beverages and arrangements for travel after the event (where alcohol is being consumed).
4. Send a reminder to your employees about the expected behaviours – prior to the function, remind employees about your behavioural expectations. They should understand that workplace policies apply to the work function and that disciplinary action will be taken if policies are breached. Remind employees to drink responsibly and set out the arrangements for the function, including a finishing time. Employee’s should be informed that after this time, they will need to leave the venue if they wish to continue partying. They should also be reminded not to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol.
5. Monitor and address behaviour at the party – ensure that you have senior employees oversee alcohol consumption and employee behaviour, and address any unacceptable behaviour as it arises.
If you are considering organising a work Christmas party, please contact one of our experienced employment law specialists to review your workplace policies and provide strategic advice as to how to minimise the potential risks associated with your Christmas celebrations.
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