With Christmas around the corner, now is a great time for employers to consider how they can best avoid an HR hangover after the office Christmas party!

Employers’ duties to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their staff continue to apply at the work Christmas party. Failing to meet these duties can lead to serious legal issues such as bullying and sexual harassment, workers compensation, termination of employment and work, and health and safety claims.

However, as any employment lawyer or HR professional will tell you, December and January tend to be busy, assisting employers to manage the fallout of improper conduct at work functions.

Alcohol and employment are not often a good mix. Employers risk being held vicariously liable for the conduct of employees who engage in inappropriate behaviour. Such behaviour can include unwelcome hugging, kissing or touching and suggestive comments or jokes. Employers need to take active steps to prevent this conduct.

Reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment

Reasonable steps employers can take to prevent discrimination and harassment include:

• Implementing written anti-discrimination and harassment policies
• Providing induction and refresher training in the policies
• Encouraging employees to speak out in the event of a complaint; properly investigating a complaint and ensuring disciplinary outcomes where appropriate.

Tips to help you prepare for the festive season

Before the function

1. Review workplace policies and ensure that complaints, policies and procedures are up-to-date and accessible. Ensure there are clear consequences for inappropriate behaviour at work and work-related events.
2. Send an email reminding all employees of workplace policies and appropriate and respectful behaviour. Relevant policies will generally include a code of conduct, sexual harassment and bullying, drugs and alcohol, and social media policies.
3. Ensure the venue will comply with responsible service of alcohol principles.
4. Enquire with the venue about obtaining surveillance footage after the party if an incident occurs which requires investigation.

During the function

1. Monitor responsible service of alcohol and confirm that there is appropriate oversight. Allowing all employees unhindered access to alcoholic drinks is very risky. Ensure that plenty of food and non-alcoholic drinks are available.
2. During the function, make sure you have a designated person/s who can monitor alcohol consumption and behaviour of staff and any other safety issues that arise. This person/s will (ideally) abstain from alcohol throughout the party.
3. Make sure employees have safe travel to and from the event.
4. Ideally, make an announcement at the end of the function so that everyone knows the event has formally ended. Don’t refer to after parties or continuing celebrations unless you want your duties to extend into the wee hours.

After the function

1. Deal with any complaints promptly. This may mean you will need to fast-track an investigation into alleged misconduct whilst memories are still fresh and before relevant staff/witnesses go on leave for the holiday period.
2. Monitor social media, if possible, to minimise risks to the employer’s reputation from party posts or photos which are inappropriate.

Talk to Coleman Greig’s Employment Law team about how you can prioritise the health, safety and welfare of your employees during any celebrations this festive season.