Breakfast Bite: Tis the season to not get trolleyed: 6 HR tips to meet your obligations and have festive fun

Office party season is upon us. For many, this will be an opportunity to relax, have fun and build all-important relationships outside the normal working day.

It’s also time for employers to reward and acknowledge the hard work employees have put in this year. But whether you’ve planned your event at a much-loved local place or a new and different venue, remember that one thing has changed: your level of legal responsibility.

Your new duties – what you need to know

We’re not here to put a dampener on your festivities but with the recent introduction of the Worker Protection Act 2023, it’s good to be clued up on where to be vigilant and what practical measures to take. One mistake could have long-lasting personal and business consequences.

What you need to do:

• Embed a culture of respect and inclusion at every level through clearly communicating behavioural expectations, so that nobody can be in any doubt about what is required of them.
• Ensure leadership and management role model expected behaviours, mindful of the example they’re setting.
• Remember that alcohol is the root cause of many a long-regretted incident as some lose their sober sense of judgment. Think about what will be on offer, whether things like a free bar for the whole event are a good idea and what you can do to moderate consumption – like structuring the evening around a meal or other activity.
• Send out an email to everyone a few days beforehand encouraging people to have an amazing time but to be respectful. Remind them to review the anti-harassment policy and attach a copy.
• Send a similar email to managers and leaders reminding them of their custodianship.
• Have fun. This is an opportunity for everyone to let their hair down and kick back for a while – which is all the more possible when everyone knows they are safe and they know exactly what’s behaviourally expected of them.

We can help you carry out a sexual harassment risk assessment and design a sexual harassment policy tailored to you. Get in touch for a friendly chat with one of our experts.

Looking forward, the Employment Rights Bill will have a significant impact on employers next year. We’ve prepared a handy checklist of areas you need to be aware of to ensure you’re fully compliant.

Let your only embarrassments involve bad Christmas jumpers and belting out cheesy karaoke tunes.

Have fun!