With Christmas just around the corner, companies are getting ready to celebrate the end of yet another year. But preparing for Christmas is more than just decorating the office Christmas tree, organising a game of Secret Santa, and hosting a staff Christmas party. For some companies, Christmas equals risky behaviour, inappropriate staff interactions, plenty of headaches, and potential alcohol (and drug) related incidents. 

For this reason, it’s crucial that you are aware of your responsibilities and minimise the potential risks associated with Christmas, regardless of whether you have 2 employees of 2,000.

So what are your responsibilities as a company when organising a Christmas event?

There are a number of things you are responsible for as a leadership team or a business owner, when organising a Christmas event.  Importantly, it’s your job to keep employees safe, secure an adequate venue, enforce company policies, take all the necessary safety precautions, provide adequate supervision during the event, serve alcohol responsibly, and – most importantly – make sure that everyone gets home safely. 

Here are our top 10 things you should consider to minimise your risks and make sure everyone has a great time!

1. Keep everyone safe. Safety should be your primary concern when organising a Christmas event. Avoid situations that may put employees’ wellbeing at risk before, during, and after the event. This includes any safety hazards that may appear as a result of inappropriate behaviour, excessive alcohol consumption, or poor venue conditions. 
2. Encourage responsible drinking. To avoid people overindulging in alcohol, make sure that the venue offers plenty of non-alcoholic beverages or ‘mocktails’ on the menu. Also, you want to ensure that the venue has a safe service of alcohol. i.e. they should definitely not serve alcohol to people under the age of 18.
3. Appoint someone you trust to monitor the event. Entrust at least one senior staff member, who will not be drinking at the event, to monitor employees’ behaviour and consumption. This person should also be given sufficient authority to speak with individuals in order to limit or stop their drinking, or be able to give directions or instructions to the venue.
4. Promote an inclusive environment. Make sure everyone feels welcome at the party. This is such an important one when making sure your employees have a great time. Review any arrangements that may cause disadvantage to a particular group of employees due to religious, physical, or personal reasons. Try to accommodate individuals’ needs by choosing seasonal over religious decorations, offering non-alcoholic alternatives, providing a variety of food options, making sure people with allegies are catered for, and ensuing the venue is wheelchair accessible.
5. Inspect the venue prior to the event. Undertake a health and safety check and assessment to identify any venue safety concerns. Restrict access to insecure areas during the event to reduce the risk of injury.
6. Offer taxi vouchers or paid Uber rides home. Get the designated team member who is supervising the event to hand out taxi vouchers to employees as needed, or give them the details of the company Uber account. This includes employees who have arrived with their private or company vehicle but have been drinking at the event. Remember, it’s your responsibility to make sure employees get home safely from your event. 
7. Secure a private venue. Consider booking a venue that your company has all to itself. This way, you will not have to worry about other people being there at the same time and causing trouble. Not to mention, you will have the opportunity to add some personal touches to the event, such as company branding, decorations or setting a theme. You can also have a speaker or hand out awards without feeling like people from other tables are watching you.
8. Clearly define the time and venue. In your invitations, make sure you share an agenda and information about the exact start time, finish time and location of the event. It’s also a good idea to have a strict cut-off time for the service of alcohol. Make it clear to employees that any conduct outside the specified time and venue will not be your responsibility or liability.
9. Remind employees about expected standards of conduct. Send out an all-staff email to employees to remind them that the event is a work function and therefore the same standards of behavior that apply at work, will apply here, too. Encourage employees to read up on relevant company policies, like work health and safety, drugs and alcohol, anti-discrimination, anti-sexual harassment, anti-bullying, and social media.
10. Ensure your Social Media Policy is communicated and up-to-date. People love a good selfie nowadays! Maintain a positive company image by ensuring all employees are aware of what they can and cannot share on social media. Inappropriate photos and posts can cause your company a lot of trouble, like embarrassment, defamation and data breaches. Having a social media policy in place will significantly reduce these risks.

If you are unsure how to implement any of these suggestions in your business, or would like assistance with policy writing, all-staff communications drafting, or company guidelines in regards to social events, please reach out to our team for more information – projects@commongoalconsulting.com.au, or contact Nikki Jenkinson (Director) on 0472 545 584.