It’s that time of year when work festivities begin, and Christmas activities are often the highlight of the year. These types of events can be a great opportunity to boost morale and finish the year on a high!

However, staff conduct is still expected throughout festive activities to maintain professional behaviour. It is important to remember that whether Christmas events are held in or out of work hours, or, on or off work premises, if it is work organised, then workplace rules apply, including those on misconduct.

The most common Christmas event we see is the office Christmas Party!  Whilst this is a great way to celebrate together as a team, employees should be encouraged to dress appropriately, engage professionally, avoid innapropate jokes or “banter” and offensive behaviour. It is important that everyone is conscious of their behaviour and what they say or do at the party – including management discussing pay, benefits or offering promotions as, sadly, Santa has no control over that!

Along with the Christmas party, another favourite festive activity is secret Santa (Ssshhhh) which typically involves anonymous gift giving – after all, who wouldn’t love a secret gift!   However, please do keep in mind that workplace conduct must still apply, ensuring all gifts are appropriate, respectful, and non-offensive, with an emphasis on generic rather than personal buying, or, potentially humiliating items. It’s also important for the activity to be voluntary and for a designated person to clearly communicate the rules, price limit, and gift exchange date to avoid confusion and embarrassment.

As an employer you can minimise any unwanted conduct by clearly communicating the company’s expectation on conduct prior to the Christmas period.  It is also advisable to train your managers on how to spot and address any potential issues early.

Employers could communicate expectations via a companywide email and whilst this may seem a bit “grinch” like, it is important to protect your company by doing so. Whilst you are not going to discipline staff for getting a little tipsy, fighting, being abusive/offensive, or any form of discrimination or harassment or bringing the Company into disrepute would be taken very seriously.  It may also be worthwhile communicating expectations of social media use, as posts can be taken out of context and can reach far and wide on online platforms, potentially affect the reputation and brand of the organisation.

Please don’t forget that when planning your festive events that not everyone’s circumstances are the same and in order to not make anyone feel ostracized, please take into account people who do not celebrate Christmas, like socialising, or able to stay out late. Please also keep in mind some people have allergies and special dietary requirements, some religions do not allow certain foods and some people do not drink alcohol. So, in the planning stages of both Christmas activities, please ensure that there are plenty of options for everyone.

Another important point to consider is employees who are under 18 as they are not allowed alcohol under the law and before the event, let them know that you want them to enjoy themselves, but they must not drink alcohol, or be bought alcohol.

If any allegations are made during or after the events or if there are any unsavoury incidents, the key thing to remember is to follow your usual disciplinary process and ensure that any complaint is investigated thoroughly before any action is taken. However, if anything does happen, please don’t discipline employees at the party itself.

Finally, focus on fun and inclusivity!  Afterall, the goal is to foster a sense of fun and community, not to put pressure on anyone to spend a lot of money or feel excluded, and if manged well, this can significantly boost morale and employee loyalty, which for many businesses could be invaluable after what may have been a challenging year.

Remember that a well- managed Christmas party is great fun and can provide a significant boost to morale and loyalty, which for many businesses could be invaluable after what may have been a challenging year.

So that just leaves us to wish you a happy festive season and a great new year!