Navigating the Christmas party season: guidance for employers

Whilst the holiday season provides the opportunity to bring teams together to celebrate the festive period and achievements over the last 12 months, on occasion it can also lead to some management challenges.

This article explores some example scenarios, and outlines steps for how as managers you can resolve these.

“Tis the season to be jolly…”. During the run up to Christmas, there can be many team lunches, organisation parties and networking events which your team members may wish to attend. These can be useful opportunities for colleagues to spend time together informally and are a great way to boost employee morale and show employees they are valued. Where you have hybrid arrangements, it’s also a nice way to bring people together face-to-face.

However, where alcohol is involved, there may be occasions where a manager has concerns about an individual’s behaviour, or feels they may still be under the influence when they are back at work. In these situations, managers may wish to:

• Consider whether there are any health and safety concerns, as keeping everyone safe should be the priority. For example, if they have a role involving and hazards or machinery, they should be removed from this area immediately.
• Think about what is the best approach for the individual – this could be sending the individual home to rest, or asking them to stay at work where colleagues could keep an eye on them until it may be safe for them to go home.
• Consider any impact on the organisation – i.e. should they be kept away from customers and away from clients.
• When the individual has returned to work, take any appropriate further action in line with any relevant policies. Depending on the situation, this could range from an informal catch-up highlighting the concerns to an investigation as part of a disciplinary process.

Another potential scenario could be when a Christmas party incident subsequently causes issues in the workplace and impacts on working relationships. Ways managers could resolve these are:

• By reminding individuals that they are in the workplace, and any personal issues should be kept aside.
• See if there are opportunities to keep individuals apart and separate to allow time to ‘cool off’.
• Refer to any relevant formal procedures – depending on the scenario, the disciplinary procedure may need to be invoked or mediation considered.

In both the above scenarios, it’s useful for managers to keep notes and records, in case any further issues arise.

Ideally, it is better to avoid scenarios like these occurring in the first place.  If you are particularly concerned about the potential for tricky situations, you might want to consider issuing a reminder to employees of behaviour expectations at these types of events and signpost them to relevant policies, such as your Code of Conduct or Alcohol and Drugs policies.

For further advice on supporting your team during the Christmas period, contact Rachel Walker in our team on 07392090890.