December, We Made It!! Let’s Have a Holiday Party
– Hey everyone, my name is Chrystal. I am the owner and president of Crystal Clear HR, and today we are starting our video series that’s gonna be a monthly series of all things employment law, okay? So we’re gonna be gettin’ it clear in five minutes or less, all right?
To Do or Not To Do, That Is The Question
So, this month, we are gonna focus on ’tis the season, the holiday party. So, what are the do’s and dont’s? What can you do, what can’t you do, what should you do, what should you not do? That’s gonna be the focus.
Employer Responsibilities
So there are always two sides to every story, so we’re gonna focus on what the employer should do and we’re gonna focus on what the employee should do, okay? So, what’s the purpose of the holiday party? To celebrate the year, all the accomplishments the company has made, meet and greet some of the family members of those that you spend a good majority of your day with. So, in that time, what we wanna concentrate on are three things as the employer. Number one, know that you have risk and liability, okay? Unfortunately we live in a society where suing is like second nature, so you wanna make sure that you wanna minimize all risk as humanly possible. We’re gonna talk a little bit about alcohol and does it necessarily serve a good purpose at the holiday party with employees? Number two, you wanna make sure that you don’t make it mandatory as the employer. If you tell your employees you have to be there, your intentions may be good ’cause you want everybody to mingle and get to know one another in a more relaxed atmosphere, but once you make it mandatory, you may be required to pay them. And I’m sure that’s not the purpose of the holiday party. If you gotta pay people to be there, that’s called work, okay? So keep that in mind. And number three and probably the most important of it all, while at the holiday party, be watchful, okay? You wanna make sure you’re cautious of what’s going on. So back to what I said earlier. Alcohol. People tend to overindulge. That becomes a risk to you if they drive, if they get belligerent, if they can’t control their alcohol. You know, sometimes those mean drunks that we have? Alcohol makes everything riskier, okay? So if you’re gonna have alcohol, some of the strategies you might want to employ is, one, having a minimum drink limit or maximum, I should say, drink limit. You might wanna have Lyft or Uber or avenues such as that to get people home safely. Even if they’re not your employees, your employees could potentially be worker’s comp if their guest, that would be your general liability. All things unfortunately in 2019 leads to court, so keep that in mind. Now, again, the other side of that coin, the employees.
Employee Responsibilities
So, employees, remember, the holiday party is still a work event. You still have to remain professional and respectful at all times, okay? You wanna be mindful of who your audience is. Now is not the time to be talking about Becky behind her back because you do not know who Becky brought to the holiday party. Keep your comments that are very negative to yourself. Number two, don’t overindulge in alcohol, okay? You do not want to be that person. You know, that person that’s threw up in the corner, that person who’s passed out in a parking lot, that person who cussed out their boss because they had courage, liquid courage. Don’t be that person, so don’t overindulge. If you’re a lightweight, maybe you shouldn’t drink at all. And if you’re a heavyweight, now is not the time to show how many drinks you can put down, all right? Number three, and probably most important for the employee, be aware that your actions at the holiday party, if they are egregious to another employee or something against company policy, can get you terminated, okay? So keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of having to terminate employees after investigations due to their actions at the holiday party, okay? So, long story short, am I trying to take away your fun? No. Enjoy yourself. Remember, it’s a joyous occasion. The holiday party is a time to celebrate, but you also wanna remember, be respectful, be cautious, be careful, enjoy your time, just don’t get crazy. And please, of all things, don’t end up being a meme on Facebook, Instagram, or any other those social media sites, ’cause people will post.
Any Questions??
All right, my name is Chrystal. I hope you’ve learned something. I hope you enjoyed this. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at Crystal Clear HR, www.crystalclearhrs.com. You can email me at questions@crystalclearhrs, and you can call me, 661 704-0315. Talk to you soon.
