Prudent party planning helps make the holiday season safe and enjoyable for employers and employees
By Jeffrey R. Smith
The festive season is coming for another year, and with it comes all the planning that accompanies it — what gifts to get, parties to attend, travel arrangements to make — it all adds up to one of the busiest times of the year. And employers usually aren’t excluded from such holiday preparation.
Some employers shut down for a period of time in late December and early January as things can slow down anyway with a lot of employees, clients and customers taking time off leading to a business slowdown – with the big exception of industries such as retail and party planning, which see the opposite. But in the time period just before the holidays, when people are making all these plans, employers also are making plans to recognize the season in the workplace.
Office parties, department lunches, gift exchanges – it can get pretty festive and busy in the workplace at this time of year. But whether it’s just informal gatherings or more formal events, it’s always good for employers to review the risks and benefits of holding holiday parties.
When it comes to holiday parties held in the workplace, it’s usually not considered a good idea to serve alcohol. There’s no question on the employer’s liability when it comes to being at the regular workplace, since there’s a legal obligation for the employer to protect employees at work. This protection includes any potential mishaps related to alcohol or excessive revelry, whether causing physical injury or, perhaps more likely when the booze is flowing, harassment. Anything harmful that happens to an employee at a holiday party in the workplace, whether the result of alcohol or not, can spell big trouble for the employer, so at least an absence of alcohol might reduce the risk.
For parties sponsored or organized by the employer that take place away from the workplace, there is still a duty the employer owes to keep employees safe. In such circumstances, the venue can be considered an extension of the workplace, so the employer should take steps, such as controlling the amount of alcohol or providing employees a way home.
Every year at this time when liabilities of employers in holiday parties are discussed, the 2002 Ontario case of Hunt (Litigation Guardian of) v. Sutton Group Incentive Realty Inc. is brought up. In that case, an employee left a holiday party after drinking, drove to a bar and met co-workers, drank some more, and got into a car accident driving home. The employer was held partially responsible for the employee’s injuries because she got intoxicated at the employer’s event and nothing was done to stop her from getting behind the wheel. In such circumstances where someone else was injured or killed by the employee’s drunk driving, the employer would probably be held partially responsible for that as well. A messy situation!
Everyone wants to have a good time celebrating the holidays – including both employers and employees – but everyone wants to be safe as well. It’s a good idea to carefully consider what shape your holiday party will take and weigh the pros, cons, and legal risks that come with it.
Happy holidays!
