Make the Office Holiday Party Merry, Not Litigious

Quick Hits

• Secular language and symbols are more inclusive for a religiously diverse workforce.
• Making party attendance voluntary may prevent some wage-and-hour and discrimination claims.
• Serving alcohol raises the potential risk of sexual harassment, driving while intoxicated, and other inappropriate conduct.

The last thing employers want is to host a holiday party that lands them with discrimination lawsuits, harassment lawsuits, or disgruntled workers who feel left out because of their religion. A little preparation and thoughtfulness in advance can prevent that.

It’s important to ensure that all workers are included and invited to the party. To promote inclusiveness, employers can avoid using terms and decorations associated with a specific religion. Christmas, Advent, Nativity sets, and Santa Claus, for example, are specifically Christian. By contrast, nonreligious holiday symbols include wreaths, stockings, bells, candy canes, gingerbread, holly, and poinsettias.

If attendance is mandatory, the party hours may be compensable time for hourly workers in some cases.

Making party attendance optional could reduce the risk of wage-and-hour claims, while also garnering appreciation from those who would prefer to skip the party for religious reasons or because they have a substance abuse disorder.

Alcohol Comes With Risks

A common pitfall with holiday parties is drunkenness that leads to sexual harassment, fighting, or other inappropriate behavior. To minimize the risk of those harmful scenarios, employers can remind employees about the corporate anti-harassment policy and potential consequences for someone who harasses or assaults another person.

To lower the risk of driving while intoxicated after the festivities, employers can consider these options:

• Serve only beer and wine
• Offer tasty nonalcoholic drinks
• Hire professional, insured bartenders
• Use a ticket system to allow one or two drinks per person
• Provide plenty of food
• Allow employees to expense a rideshare service

Before the party, employers can remind workers to behave professionally and make a safe plan for getting home via public transportation, a designated driver, or a rideshare service.

Next Steps

Before the holiday party, employers may want to ensure that anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies are up-to-date, and clearly communicate to all employees the expectations for professional and ethical conduct during the holiday party. If any complaints arise after the party, employers may want to investigate the complaints in a timely and thorough manner.

To prevent wage-and-hour claims, multistate employers may wish to review state and local laws that may go beyond what federal law requires.

Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Employment Law and Multistate Compliance blogs as new information becomes available.

Keith E. Kopplin is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Milwaukee office.

This article was co-authored by Leah J. Shepherd, who is a writer in Ogletree Deakins’ Washington, D.C., office.

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