With the holidays right around the corner, many workplaces and employers are already gearing up for the annual holiday work party. What should be a fun and enjoyable time to celebrate the coming of a new year can quickly turn sour in the wrong mix of circumstances. Your job as an employer is to prevent these situations to the best of your ability to ensure a fun and safe time is had by all.
First thing’s first: Will there be alcohol at the party?
While alcohol can serve as a social lubricant and be a lot of fun in moderation, too much can quickly bring out grudges an employee may have been holding back or drama that had previously stayed on the back burner. Avoid having an open bar to prevent employees from becoming too intoxicated. Utilize drink tickets and avoid serving hard liquor.
If there is alcohol, do you have any employees who are under the age of 21?
Having minors present at a party where alcohol is being served is making yourself open for a lot of potential issues. If someone slips the youngest employee or perhaps interns some alcohol, or they drink without anyone realizing, you could be liable and get in a lot of legal trouble. This is especially true if they get hurt or hurt someone else.
There are some other countermeasures you can take
Make sure everyone is served a good meal and plenty of non-alcoholic drink options like sparkling water, soda, hot chocolate, or even eggnog (to keep the holiday spirit!) available.
Assign someone from senior management to remain sober during the whole event to make sure nothing gets out of hand.
Before things get underway, remind everyone present of the behavior your company expects. Yes, it is a celebration, but all of the employees are adults and in a professional setting and should behave as such.
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