Throwing a Successful Staff Christmas Party18 Nov 2019

With Christmas just around the corner companies need to start thinking about their end of year Staff Christmas Party. Although these social gatherings are in a less formal environment the duty of care remains the same as though it was in the workplace. As the employer you must take all reasonable steps to ensure your staffs safety.

Take into consideration the following tips to ensure your Staff Christmas Party is smooth sailing this year.

First and foremost, you must send out a memorandum out to your staff setting out expectations. Remind staff of acceptable behaviour including alcohol consumption, harassment, discrimination and violence.

Transport

As an employer you also have responsibility to make sure staff get home safely, this can be by providing or organizing transport home or to a designated address. If an employee is injured on the way home from the function, there is a fair chance the employer could be faced with a worker’s compensation claim. Preparing transport home is a highly effective way to minimize this risk
When sending out the memo, state what time the event finishes and that if an employee decides not to go home that your responsibility ends once you transport them to their designated address.

Alcohol

If you are serving alcohol, be aware and prepared for the fact that some staff members may get a bit carried away and consume more than they can handle. Be prepared to send them home in a taxi. Assign a senior manager to monitor festivities. Providing plenty of food from the beginning of the function will avoid the party escalating from calm to calamity!

If an issue does arrive follow normal disciplinary process and treat all involved in a fair and reasonable manner. The golden rule is that an employer taking disciplinary action against an employee must give them a fair hearing and a sanction reflecting the seriousness of the event.

Be aware when staff coming back to work that an incident from the event may trigger friction in the workplace. If so, manage it in a timely manner to stop if from escalating.

For further guidance on any HR related issue get in touch with our experienced consultants today on 07 834 0973