If you work in HR or manage a team, it is nearly time to urge your staff to dig out their festive jumpers and to finalise plans for the end-of-year celebrations. From an HR perspective, you will be familiar with the risks around potential sexual harassment and alcohol-related issues at this time of year, and clearly those risks need to be managed. It is also important to consider how you can make your festivities as thoughtful and inclusive as possible. Below, we explore some pointers to help you mark the holiday period in a way that includes all your workforce, so that everyone can enjoy the season ahead.

1. Consider alternatives to the classic late-night Christmas bash

There is no doubt that workplace events like Christmas Jumper Day and the annual staff party, as well as activities like Secret Santa, can help to foster a sense of community at work and lift employee mood, while perhaps also raising money for a charitable cause. But, as not all staff celebrate Christmas and everyone has different needs, it is important to think carefully about the nature and timing of any celebrations.

Keep in mind that the classic late-night alcohol-heavy Christmas party may not suit everyone, and there can be benefits to making alcohol less of a focus. Might, for example, a festive lunch, or afternoon tea and cake, work better as a more inclusive alternative to the typical Christmas routine? These may appeal to various people, including those with childcare commitments, people who do not drink alcohol and neurodiverse staff who may find a busy evening party too loud or overwhelming. You will, of course, need to consider whether your proposed venue choice is accessible for those with disabilities (or whether adjustments need to be made).

It also makes sense to think about whether your venue and type of event will suit different generational cohorts. Clearly it can be difficult to please everyone, but is it worth asking your staff directly for their views on what they would like your end-of-year celebrations to look like, rather than automatically adopting the same approach as you have in previous years?

Practical details can make a big difference to how much someone enjoys a work-related social event. Might there be scope to build in breaks in proceedings, so those who prefer to stay for a shorter time can get away without fuss? When it comes to deciding the menu, keep in mind staff with special dietary requirements (including due to health issues or religious or cultural beliefs), and make sure these will be catered for. If you decide to offer alcohol, make sure you also offer non-alcoholic alternatives.

It is also worth considering how you label your event. If this is the biggest staff social event of the year, could changing the event to an “Annual staff party” rather than a “Christmas party” help to ensure that everyone feels welcome? The context will be relevant to how you approach this.

Try to embrace other cultural and religious beliefs during the year (such as Eid al-Fitr, Diwali, Chanukah and Chinese New Year), as this will help to celebrate diversity and ensure that all staff feel valued.

2. Communicate clear expectations in advance

Setting out clear expectations for your workforce regarding what you expect at any social events (including the day after) can help to minimise potential legal and employee relations risks. For example, we recommend the following:

  • Remind employees in advance that, whilst your staff party is of course a social event, those attending will still be expected to comply with your company’s applicable policies (such as equality policies and anti-bullying and harassment policies) and training. Make clear that conduct which breaches these standards will not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action – even if influenced by alcohol. You will need to take active steps to minimise the risk of sexual harassment (see further below). If you are planning any diversity or harassment training in the next few weeks, could you bring it forward to before the event?
  • Set out your expectations regarding the day after. For example, make clear that all employees will be expected to attend work the day after the party (if it is a normal working day), that unauthorised absence will be treated as a disciplinary matter and that turning up at work still ‘merry’ or hungover is not acceptable! Some organisations allow staff to start an hour later than normal or otherwise relax their working arrangements. Unless you say in advance that you will make a concession, be consistent in dealing with absences in the same way you would throughout the year, using your established procedures (and making reasonable adjustments where needed).
  • If teams tend to exchange gifts, such as part of a Secret Santa, make clear that any gifts must be appropriate for a working environment. It is important that no one feels pressured into participating and it may also feel appropriate to set an upper limit on cost.

3. Carry out a sexual harassment risk assessment (and remember third parties)

It is of course important to ensure that your staff are safe from harassment and, based on results from a poll we recently undertook during our webinar on sexual harassment, we know that many employers lack confidence about whether they are doing enough to meet their obligations in this regard. By way of reminder, since October last year employers have a proactive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers “in the course of employment”. This obligation is broad and includes work social events like the annual staff party. (Failure to comply with the anticipatory duty can result in enforcement action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), regardless of whether an individual brings a claim. In addition, employment tribunals can increase the compensation awarded in a successful claim by up to 25% if the employer has not complied with its anticipatory duty.)

In practical terms this means that carrying out a sexual harassment risk assessment should form a key part of your Christmas party planning process. (If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can access our template risk assessment here and we can also provide further support – see the “How we can help” section below.)

As an employer, you have a proactive obligation to anticipate scenarios in which your workers may be subject to sexual harassment and, having identified the risks, you must take pre-emptive action to prevent such harassment from taking place. Further, where incidents of sexual harassment have already occurred in similar situations, you must take steps to prevent incidents from reoccurring in the future. Drawing up a risk assessment will help you to identify where the main risks lie, so you can then take active steps to minimise those risks. For example, if you decide to hold a late-night party at which alcohol will be served, you may decide to nominate certain managers to take responsibility to step in early if necessary to ensure that matters don’t get out of hand. If an employee drinks too much, or starts to behave inappropriately, your ‘nominated hosts’ should be given authority to arrange for these individuals to make an ‘exit’. Remember that the preventative duty on employers is an ongoing obligation, so you should keep your risk assessment under regular review.

EHRC guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work says that the preventative duty on employers includes prevention of harassment by third parties, so your risk assessment should also consider the likelihood of your workers coming into contact with third parties (e.g. clients, contractors and suppliers). This will be relevant if, for example, you invite clients to your event, your event will take place at a shared venue and/or your employees are invited to events which are being organised by other businesses (such as parties run by your suppliers).

Unlawful harassment is a broad area, and includes harassment related to other protected characteristics (e.g. race, age, disability etc.) as well as sexual harassment, so you should consider this too. Employers have long been liable for harassment if one of their employees harasses a colleague in the course of their employment, including work social events. Employers have a defence only if they can show they took ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent the employee from carrying out that harassment/discrimination. Note that plans under the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) will place an even greater obligation on employers in the future regarding harassment, including extending the anticipatory duty to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment to the taking of ‘all reasonable steps’. In addition, the ERB will make employers responsible if their workers are harassed by third parties in the course of employment and the employers cannot show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment. This will apply to every type of harassment - not just sexual harassment. (See our ERB knowledge base, and specifically our spotlight on harassment for further details).

4. Offer support where needed

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that for many people the holiday season can be hard to navigate (for example if they are lonely, have difficult personal relationships, are bereaved, have debt worries or are affected by certain health issues such as eating disorders or addiction). Reported incidents of domestic abuse typically rise during the festive period (often attributed to factors such as increased alcohol consumption, financial pressures and more time spent at home as a family), so as an employer you should be alive to this. If your organisation offers an employee assistance programme, or has mental health first aiders/champions, it is worth reminding staff that these resources are available to provide support (financial, emotional or otherwise).

How we can help

Make UK is here to help you with any guidance you may need during the festive season. If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser about any of these issues. Now is a good time to check that your HR policies and procedures are up-to-date and fit for purpose (we can help with this), and you can also access further information, including template policies and drafting guidance, in the HR & Legal Resources section of our website.

Make UK offers a package of support aimed at preventing harassment, and specifically sexual harassment, at work, including a template Anti-bullying and harassment policy (including guidance notes), staff surveys (pulse surveys) and anti-harassment training for staff (micro-awareness video and/or half day workshop). Our HR consultants are very experienced in assisting companies with investigation processes (including in relation to harassment), either in a supporting role or running the process as independent investigators. For further details, contact us.

If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.