Dilemma
It’s almost Christmas, and so many employers are organizing a Christmas party. This is often intended to thank employees for their hard work with a snack and a drink. Christmas drinks are all about fun, but can also get out of hand due to drinking; from traffic accidents to fights and unwanted touching.
As an employer, do you serve alcohol at a Christmas party because it is fun – or do you not do it to prevent incidents?
Avoid misery, don’t do it
Employment lawyer Wies van Pesch from law firm Workx advocaten receives phone calls from employers every year after Christmas. “Then things got out of hand again at the Christmas drinks and they have all kinds of problems,” she says. For example, an employee who punched a colleague in the face. Or a manager who invited employees to his home after drinks and provided them with drinks and drugs. The employees later blamed their manager for the fact that they had to recover a lot from the ‘after party’ and were therefore unable to work properly.
Van Pesch also knows many examples of unwanted touching or advances by colleagues. “I hardly hear of this kind of thing happening in the workplace during the day,” she says – “it almost always happens at drinks or weekends away.”
She would rather see employers ask in advance whether their Christmas plans are sensible. Van Pesch: “Then I would first of all advise them to create a setting in which the emphasis is not on alcohol.” Rather, go to a Christmas market in the afternoon, and end the activity around dinner time. Or organize a cooking workshop. “In any case, not a setting with unlimited drinks.”
Employers must take into account that they can also be held liable if something goes wrong after the drinks. From Pesch. “The judge often finds the employer responsible because he or she created the setting from which the incident arose.”
The Trimbos Institute, an independent knowledge institute for mental health, alcohol, tobacco, drugs and gaming and gambling, regularly receives questions from employers about how to organize Christmas drinks. “Indeed, often after an incident has occurred,” says Maddy Blokland, an advisor in the field of alcohol and work at Trimbos. “We recommend offering alcohol-free alternatives. Nowadays there are many more options, such as zero.zero beer, but also non-alcoholic cocktails that are quite hip. These are also festive drinks to make.”
Alcohol is often linked to socializing, Blokland sees. “That is very much part of Dutch culture.” Nearly 80 percent of the population drank alcohol last year. Nearly 17 percent of workers have ‘risky’ drinking behavior. Someone and those around them then suffer from that behavior, for example by not keeping appointments after an evening of drinking. It would be good, Blokland thinks, if we could see alcohol and socializing more separately.
The Trimbos Institute sees that large employers more often do not serve alcohol in the work setting. Blokland: “Sometimes also to create a more inclusive atmosphere. For people with an Islamic or other religious background, excessive alcohol consumption by colleagues at a drinks party can be an obstacle to attending.”
Young employees are more likely than ever to find it fine if there is no alcohol at a drink, Blokland sees. “Young people are now more concerned with a healthy lifestyle, and alcohol is not one of them.” In addition, according to Blokland, people nowadays often prefer to keep their relationship with the workplace professional. It is no longer common to stay with the same employer all your life, she says, so people prefer to keep work and private life separate. “Not having drinks helps keep the relationship more business-like.”
Alcohol blurs boundaries and makes people looser, says Van Pesch. “Sometimes people forget that they are dealing with colleagues and not with friends. This makes it easier to lose sight of hierarchical relationships, while they are important according to employment law.” It is therefore better for the manager to set a good example at the drinks party by going home at the normal end time. “He or she should absolutely not go to the after party.”
Keep an eye on things
If you still want to serve (unlimited) alcohol at the Christmas drinks, says Van Pesch, consider appointing someone who does not drink too much and keeps an eye on things. That could be someone from the HR department. “It may sound a bit childish, but someone can occasionally offer an employee who has had too much to drink a glass of water to sober up a bit.” In the worst case, that person sends someone home.
You can also give employees a fixed number of coins to order alcohol at the bar, says Blokland. “The risk is that people exchange those coins so they can drink more.”
And, she adds, as an employer, think about how your employees will get home safely after drinks. “For example, you can arrange for a taxi or bus that takes employees home safely. In any case, you have to ensure that people do not get into the car if they have had more than two drinks.”
So
As an employer, keep in mind that you are liable if something goes wrong during your drinks. That may be a reason not to serve alcohol. If you do, make sure your employees don’t drink too much.
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