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Top Christmas Party Tips - How to avoid the pitfalls for employers:

Quote:Alarm bells could replace Jingle Bells for employers holding Christmas events this year if they fail to prepare for a number of 'party pitfalls'...

...one in two parties end up with colleagues fighting, one in three with incidents of sexual harassment, and one in five with accidents involving employees.

Croner's Top Ten Rules of the Yule:

Set a 'Party Policy'...
Identify potential hazards...
Issue behavioural guidelines...
Invite husbands, wives... and life-partners...
Avoid 'tipple tattle'...

full article and all 10 of the Top Ten tips: http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/24/24...ines.shtml

In my work place there are 2 Christmas parties each year - a departmental party and also party for whole workplace.

At the departmental party that one is for staff only in the department I work in - no spouses/partners/etc. It's usually held fairly quietly in a restaurant so no one cooks or cleans.  I used to go to this one until one year my boss said, "I expect everyone in this department to be there".  Well, if she expects me to be someplace after work on my own time (as this party is never during work hours) then I expect to be paid overtime.  Oddly enough, no overtime so no me - I stopped going to that one a few years back. Last year some of my department co-workers were grumbling about having to go to the party because they feel obligated to go and it isn't fun because the boss is there still bossing people around. I just laughed because I'm not a part of that since I refuse to allow my boss order me around on my off time.

Then there is the main Christmas party for all staff and our spouses/partners/etc are invited to attend.  It's always after work hours and this is one I never attended and never plan to.  Why?  Because ever since I first started working there I hear the same thing every year  after the party - things like people putting other co-workers down for how much they drank, how they danced (especially if they did dirty dancing), how they behaved, or how geeky or ugly or stupid, etc their co-worker's spouses are, it's just a big gossip put down about co-workers after that party that I never attended and won't.

One other place that I worked at years back that I went to their Christmas party was actually the first work Christmas party I ever went to and my boss because I was the last employee hired ended up having to work it - serving food, cleaning up, etc while everyone else partied and had fun. 

I hate work Christmas parties.