A partridge and a P45

A partridge and a P45


Ahhh Christmas! Mince pies by the fire, presents under the tree and having to sack someone for an incident at the Christmas party. Whilst it should just be a bit of fun, sometimes the Christmas party can just seem like a headache for HR with potential issues seemingly arising at every step. This article aims to help you minimise the nightmare before (and after) Christmas!

Deck the halls...

Practically, planning the party can be very time-consuming and will often need to start many months in advance at a time when you're more concerned about your tan than planning your Christmas events. However, if you haven't already selected your date, you may want to take into account that unless your Christmas party involves a non-alcoholic bingo fest (which on balance seems unlikely) your employees may not be at their most productive the following day. If your business has, for example, any drivers or operators of heavy machinery, they may not be productive at all as if they still have alcohol in their system the following day it is likely to be illegal and/or completely in breach of health and safety regulations to let them do their usual duties. Therefore although it may be more expensive to hold your Christmas party on Fridays, taking into account the productivity drain on the following day, on balance it may not be so expensive!

However, if the day after the party is a working day, it may be sensible to set out to employees what will be expected from them the following day, for example you may have a certain tolerance for employees coming in a little late, but absence as a result of excessive drinking will not be tolerated and any absence the following day will be investigated. This should help minimise any alcohol related absence.

In most cases the entertainment you pick for the party should prove uncontroversial (at least in terms of employment law). However, if you think there's any chance that the entertainment could cause offence (and we are not referring to trying to hire Slade or Cliff Richard) maybe pick something else! There was a case where a hotel, which was hosting another company's Christmas party, lost a claim brought by a number of its black waitresses who were offended by the "humour" of the comedian Bernard Manning who had been booked to provide the party's entertainment.

Although you may think that a Christmas party isn't a Christmas party without a certain amount of drunkeness, if you provide a free bar and there is an alcohol induced incident which results in you wanting to dismiss someone, be warned you may not be able to do so fairly. In the mid-90's three individuals won their cases for unfair dismissal against Whitbread Beer Co after they were dismissed for getting into a drunken fight at a free bar provided by their employer following a seminar on improving behaviour skills (oh, the irony!). The free bar was one of the key factors in the dismissal being unfair. So if you do want to go down the free bar route, at least consider providing food too to hopefully stop people getting too drunk. Do also make sure there are non-alcoholic options available, both to help people make slightly more sensible choices than just double-vodkas all night and to cater for those people who, for religious or other reasons are not drinking.

When you get as far as considering the invitations, don't forget to invite those who aren't in the office, for example those on maternity leave. Whilst you probably don't need to invite any agency workers you have working for you, you may think it's worth doing so to help boost morale. Where the party is to be held outside of work hours, don't make attendance compulsory. Individuals may, for example, have childcare responsibilities which would make attending the party difficult.

If you have a particularly rowdy workforce or you've had previous issues with employees' conduct at Christmas parties, you may wish to send a reminder about expectations of behaviour. Hopefully you will feel that this is not necessary, as it does slightly spoil the magic of the event if the invite is swiftly followed by an email with a link to the equal opportunities policy!

Although the mere mention of "health and safety" is enough to bore most people into a coma, make sure you at the very minimum think about the key risks of the party. It may be best not to pick up your Christmas lights from Romford market (you don't want the office lit up for the wrong reasons) and similarly it is probably best to avoid extra excitement from anything purposely explosive like indoor fireworks. The TUC/RoSPA has set out some detailed Christmas health and safety guidance which is worth a look (with perhaps the most surprising risk factor being from balloons which can apparently provide deadly to latex allergy suffers).

All I want for Christmas

If you're asking people to bring a "Secret Santa" gift, maybe consider some guidance on what is (or most likely, what is not) appropriate! Whilst it's no fun being a party pooper, it's not fun either getting a harassment claim from someone who's received underwear or a sex toy and not taken it well! Of course, you know your workforce and whether or not they can be trusted to behave or whether without some guidance they may take the banter a little too far!

Rockin' around the Christmas tree

Hopefully when the Christmas party actually comes around all your planning will leave you with a stress free event.

Senior managers should of course set the tone for the event with their behaviour. Clearly any conversations about promotion or salary increases should be avoided, even if employees approach their managers to discuss those topics. It is easy, in the spirit of the evening (and with several glasses of wine) to say something that could be misconstrued by the employee as something a bit more certain that is meant. Indeed in one example, a manager at Christmas told his team members at the Christmas party that his salary would be increased to match a new joiner within two years. When he didn't subsequently receive a pay rise, he resigned and claimed constructive dismissal. In fact he lost his case, but it still serves as a reminder to be careful to stay on safer topics than salary, bonus and promotion!

During the event, you should have a vague eye out for any situation that may be brewing, in particular if someone looks like they've reached their alcohol limit. Also, if you spot the under age office junior making his or her way towards the Christmas punch be aware that although you may think that it's nothing more than they probably do at the weekends, if you do let them drink, you could be held responsible if something happens to them as a result. In a very extreme example, an employer was held to be liable for the death of a girl at the office party as a result of alcohol poisoning.

Driving home for Christmas

At the end of the night, if you see anyone who has had more than one or two glasses of wine planning on driving home, do stop them. It is a good idea to have some cab numbers to hand so you can help people make other arrangements to get home.

Stay another day (or not, as the case may be!)

Alas, there are always those who take things a little too far and seem beyond help and will require you to take some action. Clearly to a large extent you can treat an incident at the Christmas party as you would any other and where behaviour is found to be so bad it warrants dismissal then you can obviously go down that route. For example, in one case a tanker driver got drunk at his Christmas party and let a colleague who had no driving licence drive his loaded oil tanker. She hit a wall and caused minor damage. Unsurprisingly the tanker driver was dismissed and the dismissal was found to be fair. The driver was breaking the law and putting both his fellow employees and the employer's operating licence at risk. Just because it's a party, doesn't mean anything goes.

When confronted by a complaint about someone's behaviour at the Christmas party make sure you treat it seriously. And if you're involved in any investigation or grievance, it hopefully goes without saying that even where the details are somewhat colourful, you should not gossip about it (as tempting as it may be)! In a recent case, a woman who was seen by numerous people heading to a local hotel with a colleague after a Christmas party and subsequently became pregnant, because the source of company gossip as to who the father of her child was after an HR manager who was informed in confidence let slip news of her pregnancy. She was successful in her claims against the company for discrimination, harassment and unfair dismissal after her grievance was not properly investigated and she resigned claiming constructive dismissal.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Hopefully you feel a bit more prepared to tackle the Christmas party head on, but if it all still feels a bit too painful just have another glass of mulled wine and remember Christmas only comes around once a year!