The end-of-year party should be an event at which your employees can let their hair down, enjoy each other's company, eat, drink, and even dance and sing. It does, however, come with its HR challenges and can potentially lead to unwanted claims during the festive period. Despite being out of office hours and usually in an external location, the Employment Tribunal still considers the office party to be an extension of work; therefore, attendees should adhere to normal working behaviour. Most parties take place without any issues; however, it's always useful for your organisation to be prepared for the festive season.
Top Tips
1. Employers should have a policy on workplace social events as a matter of good practice.
2. Managers should familiarise themselves with their employer's policy on workplace social events. Employers should consider whether it may be beneficial to issue a statement to employees in advance of said event in order to remind them of conduct matters, including the dangers of drinking too much alcohol and behaviours that could be considered harassment.
3. Employees can be disciplined for misconduct after an office party if the incident is closely enough connected to work to have had an impact on the working situation. If more than one employee is involved in the same incident, each employee must be treated the same.
4. Finally, be aware of providing a free bar. Providing free alcohol can be dangerous in claims of unfair dismissal due to employees arguing the employer condoned their behaviour.
In other news...
1. The European Court of Justice held that the UK discriminated against a transgender woman by failing to allow her to claim her state pension at the age of 60. She was instead told that she must wait until the age of 65, the age at which a male in the UK can claim his state pension. The original claim for the state pension was made in 2008. The woman was refused her state pension due to the fact that she did not hold a valid gender recognition certificate. This is because, before samesex marriage became available in the UK, married individuals were not entitled to change their legally recognised gender because the law at the time permitted marriage between a man and a woman only.
2. A bus company and its managing director have been convicted of deliberately failing to give their staff workplace pensions. On 10 November 2017, at Brighton Magistrates' Court, Stotts Tours (Oldham) and their director pleaded guilty to eight offences each of wilfully failing to offer a workplace pension and failing to comply with the automatic enrolment duty under section 3(2) of the Pensions Act 2008, contrary to section 45(1) of the act. The pension's regulator found that 36 staff members from the company should have been put on to a workplace pension and that the company should have been paying contributions from June 2015. It found that the actions of the company warranted criminal prosecutions, as they were deliberate. The case was adjourned for sentencing.
3. An inquiry into the quality and accessibility of apprenticeships and skills training funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency was launched on 17 November 2017 by the Education Committee. This inquiry will look into whether employers, taxpayers, and learners are receiving acceptable training that is both good value and worthwhile. It will also look at how effective the monitoring system is at identifying training providers who are providing an inadequate service. Finally, it will investigate how easily individuals from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can access apprenticeships and quality training. The committee will be accepting written submissions until 5 January 2018.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
