{"id":1943,"date":"2024-12-03T14:34:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T14:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forework.com\/?p=1943"},"modified":"2024-12-09T18:32:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T18:32:53","slug":"company-holiday-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forework.com\/company-holiday-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"Company Holiday Parties \u2013 How to Run them without Getting Sued by Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is your company planning a holiday party this year? Beware, as we know from prior experiences that employee and manager misconduct at a company holiday party \u2013 whether in person or some virtual event \u2013 can be the basis of a number of employment liability issues. Anticipating and planning in advance for common party-related problems can mitigate exposure to employment claims. Here we provide some tips and recommendations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Remind managers that they are still managers when attending functions such as company-sponsored parties (or even other companies\u2019 parties where the employee is representing his\/her employer). Manager misconduct, whether at their employer party or the party of a client\/vendor\/contractor can certainly be the basis of a harassment or discrimination suit against the manager\u2019s employer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. If possible, avoid serving alcohol. But, if alcohol will be served, make sure the bartenders are monitoring employees who may be over-indulging and don\u2019t be afraid to step in and send home those employees who start getting rowdy under the influence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. If your party is a dinner, consider serving only wine or beer (plus non-alcoholic alternatives) with the meal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. If you do serve alcohol, do not have an “open bar” where employees can drink as much as they want. Instead have a cash bar or use a ticket system to limit the number of drinks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Let your managers know that they will be considered to be “on duty” at the party. They should be instructed to keep an eye on their subordinates to ensure they do not drink too much, and to curb or eliminate their own consumption of alcohol.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Arrange for no-cost taxi service for any employee who feels that he or she should not drive home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Before the party, circulate to all employees the employee handbook, which should include the anti-harassment and code of conduct policies, and remind all employees that the company party is still a work event and professional behavior is expected of all. Encourage any employee to come forward and report any inappropriate behavior, either immediately at the party or afterwards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Don\u2019t make attendance at the holiday party mandatory, otherwise you could be required to pay non-exempt employees for their attendance\/time at the company party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Ensure the venue is accessible to employees with disabilities, and that any accommodation requests are considered.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    And, if every in doubt, refer to your Forework advisor for any questions about this article or how to run your holiday parties in a way to avoid and minimize exposure to liability!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Is your company planning a holiday party this year? Beware, as we know from prior experiences that employee and manager misconduct at a company holiday party \u2013 whether in person or some virtual event \u2013 can be the basis of a number of employment liability issues. Anticipating and planning in advance for common party-related problems …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment-articles"],"yoast_head":"\nCompany Holiday Parties \u2013 How to Run them without Getting Sued by Employees - Forework<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/forework.com\/company-holiday-parties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Company Holiday Parties \u2013 How to Run them without Getting Sued by Employees - Forework\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is your company planning a holiday party this year? 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