It’s the season of the work Christmas party, but at the risk of being accused of being Christmas kill-joys, here’s why we think you should think twice before you go.
Every January, we receive calls from members being investigated for their alleged misconduct at their office Christmas parties. Allegations have included:
Excessive drinking
Arguing
Swearing
Fighting between staff
Fighting with members of the public
Inappropriate topics of conversation
Criminal damage
Illegal drug use
Sexual misconduct
Offending customers
General behaviour that could bring the employer’s name into disrepute…
We’ve seen it all over the years!
January Disciplinary Cases
After a hard year’s work, you may want to let your hair down and enjoy yourself, but presumably not at the expense of your job. All too often, that one night of fun in December leads to disciplinary allegations in January.
Some managers are pragmatic and accept that we’re all human beings, but even if managers are sympathetic their businesses will usually adopt a ‘holier than thou’ approach to even trivial matters. The prospect of dismissal is often on the cards.
Even if you’re on your best behaviour, your colleagues may not be which means you may get dragged in as a witness to someone else’s behaviour.
Ask yourself this: is it really worth it?
A Time To Settle Scores
The Christmas party can also end up as a time for scores to be settled. We often see complaints made about staff conduct at Christmas parties made by other staff. Managers are particularly vulnerable to accusations of inappropriate behaviour, where allegations are motivated by people with grudges, rather than those with genuine cause for complaint.
Whilst facts are facts, interpretation of actions vary and people with scores to settle are unlikely to paint their victims’ behaviour in the best light. Don’t assume that when the investigations start you will receive the support of other staff, even if you think they are your friends. And don’t expect commonsense and balanced judgement from your employer: line managers and HR advisers almost always find it easier to go over the top than to apply much nous. There only needs to be a suggestion of some sort of misbehaviour for a gross misconduct charge to be made, even with scant or heavily disputed evidence!
In one work Christmas party case we dealt with, the conversation turned to the hypothetical dinner party game. ‘If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, who would you invite and why?’ One of our members said he would invite Hitler, because he wanted to better understand what was going through Hitler’s mind at the time of the second world war. When questioned by his colleagues he said that he found Hitler a fascinating character psychologically and historically.
The day after the party, the member found himself suspended; someone at the party had complained that he was promoting racism and fascism and the employer decided to suspend him pending investigation. We intervened and the matter was dropped but it’s clear that the easiest and safest way to avoid a problem is to not get involved in the first place.
Alcohol and Prescription Drugs
Most people manage their alcohol consumption sensibly but alcohol tends to be the fuel for the sort of behaviours I’ve listed above and a large number of cases have involved the interaction between sedatives or painkillers and alcohol.
People charged with misconduct have often expressed surprise at the side effects they suffered as a result of the combined use of drink and some prescription drugs and argued that this should be a mitigating factor (something that justifies more lenient treatment) in their disciplinary cases.
The argument almost always fails to convince hearing managers.
If you are going to attend an office Christmas party, perhaps consider soft drinks only! Boring though this advice may be, it does not make sense to put your job on the line for a few drinks.
If Things Do Go Wrong
Hopefully, we won’t receive many, if any, calls post-Christmas parties this year but if issues arise you need to contact us immediately, not in a panic on the morning of the investigation meeting that will inevitably follow. That way we can do our best to help you deal with the issues that will arise.
Remember, you should not attend an investigation meeting without us. Whilst some (I used to say “most” but that would now be untrue) investigating managers behave with integrity, the majority don’t and we frequently see employers break their own policies on fairness in investigations. All too often members allow themselves to be represented as having admitted things they later say they did not do. Whilst recording of police interviews has stopped the process of ‘verballing’ suspects (putting words in their mouths) the practice is alive and well in disciplinary investigations. Go in unaccompanied on a serious issue and you are likely to be nailing up your own coffin.
If you are going to need our help we would like to hear from you as soon as a problem arises. Contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 262868 (Choose Option 1).