Avoiding the HR headache of… the office Christmas party!

One hot topic of 2024 has been the introduction of the new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment of its workforce. Whilst employers are and have been liable for the actions of their employees at work events for some time, this new proactive duty means that unless employers can show that they have taken reasonable steps to anticipate and prevent sexual harassment, any compensation awarded to a Claimant for a successful claim of sexual harassment in the Employment Tribunal could be uplifted by up to 25%, and so the stakes are now even higher.

Given the strong presence of alcohol (and for the lucky ones, a free bar!) at most Christmas parties, lower inhibitions can quickly lead to the blurring of lines between professional and personal amongst colleagues, with many falsely believing that their actions outside of the physical workplace don’t come with consequences.

Of course, there is a balance to be struck between allowing employees the opportunity to celebrate their hard work against ensuring the safety of all employees attending the event. To achieve this, it is extremely important that before any event takes place, proper consideration is given to what your organisation can do to prevent inappropriate behaviour from taking place. This may include carrying out a risk-assessment before the event takes place so that key questions can be asked, such as, are staff aware of what to do should they witness or experience sexual harassment? will staff be interacting with a large amount of third parties if the event is being held externally? All of which are important questions for an employer to ask to be able to take the correct steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring.

If you have any employment law queries on ways to avoid the post-Christmas party HR headache, please contact a member of our Employment team on 0333 323 5292.