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The day after a Christmas party can leave a lot of employees with a major headache due to the large intake of alcohol the night before! However in recent years many employers have also had a headache the next day; however this has nothing to do with alcohol consumption.
Many employers are still unaware that they are liable for discriminatory acts of their employees even if they are not in the working environment.
Examples of discriminatory acts include; fighting, taking illegal drugs, consuming excess amounts of alcohol, inappropriate or offensive language or physical conduct.
The only defence that employers have is to show that they have taken preventative action against the discriminatory acts. The way to take “preventative action” is to issue a policy statement which expressly states that all employees have the right to be treated with dignity and that unacceptable behaviour at the Christmas party or indeed at any time shall lead to disciplinary action.
Employers need to make clear to all employees that while a party may be off site and outside normal working hours, the works party is merely an extension of the work place, and as such, normal work place rules should apply.
