Global Employment Lawyer - November/December 2015

Look out, beware—its holiday party season!

According to a survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., about 88 percent of companies in the US had holiday parties last year. That percentage has been hovering around 90 percent every year since 2011, when only about 68 percent of companies had holiday parties. Barring a major economic crisis in the next few weeks, it is likely that about 90 percent of US companies will again have some type of holiday party this year.

For many companies, having an annual holiday party is part of the culture and tradition of the organization. Company holiday parties provide employees with an opportunity to socialize and celebrate together, and can certainly help boost morale and engender loyalty. At the same time, however, there are risks lurking. Depending on the type of party, and the part of the world you are having it in, there are different types of risks that can come into play.

Even though the percentage of US companies having holiday parties has been relatively high the last few years, many of those companies are spending far less money on those parties than they did prior to 2008. Some companies have saved money by switching from night-time parties with open bars to lunch or afternoon parties. Even if there is access to an open bar, it is less likely that employees will consume excessive amounts of alcohol at lunch or afternoon parties. Other companies that used to invite employee spouses and significant others to their parties now only invite the employees. Although inviting spouses and partners is certainly more expensive, surveys suggest that employees tend to be on "better behavior" when spouses attend. This makes a lot of sense when you consider that—according to a national survey that was conducted in 2013 by Public Policy Polling—nearly 25 percent of employees who make over US$100,000 per year say that holiday parties have led to "romantic connections." Still other companies have saved money and mitigated the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption by eliminating the open bar or offering a limited number of alcoholic drinks per person.

We asked our partners in other parts of the world to give us a sense of what types of holiday parties their corporate clients are having. In Canada, most year-end holiday parties are still referred to as "Christmas Parties," as opposed to "Holiday Parties," and include spouses and significant others at an evening affair involving dinner. In many cases...