Most small business owners put a fair amount of planning into a holiday party for their employees — where to have it, what kind of food to serve. It’s likely that many don’t put the same effort toward ensuring that no one gets hurt and that the company isn’t sued.
Things can and do go wrong at company-sponsored gatherings — someone gets drunk and falls down, or is in an accident on the way home. Or an employee can make an unwanted pass at another guest.
Any of these incidents could put a company at risk of being sued. But carefully thinking out a party and anticipating where the problems might crop up can help small businesses reduce the chances of problems occurring.
Susan Stinson, a special projects manager at the human resources company AlphaStaff, said owners should consider whether or not to serve alcohol at parties. The fact is, drinking too much is a major factor when something unpleasant happens at a company party.
She also noted that a traditional party isn’t the only way to go — for example, the staff could work together for a few hours at a charitable organization and have food while they’re there. “There are a lot of ways to celebrate a holiday,” she said.
But if you do plan a traditional holiday party and plan to serve alcohol, you should familiarize yourself with your state’s laws governing companies’ liability. Attorney Jonathan Segal of Philadelphia-based Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen LLP noted that in some states, an employer might not be liable if the event is held in a restaurant.
Liable or not, you do want to be sure people are safe. So hire limousine services to chauffeur people home, or be sure there are designated drivers.
Segal is blunt about the potential consequences of a drunken employee: “If someone dies, you’re going to feel horrible about it and it’s going to be bad PR.”
There are ways to be sure drinking doesn’t get out of hand. Stinson noted that some companies give employees and other guests drink tickets, which people hand to the bartender in exchange for a drink. That limits how much each person imbibes, although you need to be on the lookout for someone who gets other guests to give him or her their unused tickets.
Perhaps even better than that is to have a cash bar. If the booze isn’t flowing freely, you’re less likely to have anyone getting drunk. If you’re worried that employees will see you as being cheap for making them pay for their own drinks, Segal recommends donating to charity an amount of money equal to what guests paid for drinks.
Stinson suggests having what she calls party managers to monitor what’s going on at your event. They’ll be on the lookout for someone who’s had too many drinks and any kind of behavior that borders on sexual harassment.
If the event is on your premises, consider having a professional bartender who knows when to cut someone off.
Stinson also recommends inviting spouses and significant others. “That tends to keep people in line,” she said.
It’s also a good idea to let employees know well in advance what’s expected of them — although this is a party, it is also a work-related occasion, and so a certain amount of decorum is required.
Tim Riester, chief executive of Riester, a Phoenix-based branding and marketing firm, noted, “We’re in a client service business. … It’s nice to see how everyone’s capable of handling themselves in those situations.”
Riester’s company has four offices across the country, and employees are flown to one location for not just a party, but also brunches, cookouts and other activities. Everyone, even staffers who live nearby, is put up in a hotel or given transportation home.
Many firms also choose is to hold the party during the afternoon. People are much more likely to drink more at night.
The 12 employees at Ann Clark Ltd., a Rutland, Vt., manufacturer of cookie cutters, go out to lunch together, seated around one big table. “It would be odd for someone to be drinking too much” in that kind of outing, said Elizabeth Clark, the company’s national sales manager.
After lunch is over, employees get to take the rest of the day off. And since it’s held the Friday before Christmas week, Clark said, they appreciate having some extra time to do their shopping.
Amy James, chief executive of sixThings, a New York-based curriculum management company, said that while a daytime party does cut into the work day, “it is worth the lost hours because no one is concentrating on work on the afternoon of a party anyway.”
Joyce Rosenberg writes about small business for the Associated Press.
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