Grinches

Bosses ban office Xmas parties

Christmas has been cancelled at nearly a third of Kiwi businesses this year, a survey has revealed.

The Seek workplace survey found 32 per cent of businesses would not be holding a staff Christmas party.

New health and safety laws in April this year could be behind the move, a human resources expert says.

After more than 30 years in human resources, Positive People director Alan Pettersen is aware of several Christmas party disasters.

The recent reforms meant businesses could be held culpable for “anything that happened” to employees at company events.

“If you have a function that’s out of the normal workplace but it’s essentially a work function, then the employer is responsible for the safety of their people.

“If, for example, everyone’s had a few drinks, you’d have to make sure you were still providing a safe work environment for people.”

Some of the incidents employers could be held liable for included dance floor accidents, sexual harassment and transport accidents after employees left the party, he said.

Financial constraints could be another reason for businesses not throwing a Christmas party.

Seek’s research also found that 70 per cent of Kiwis who worked at companies that weren’t planning a celebration were indifferent to the lack of festivities, with many saying they were already too busy.

Only 41 per cent of those who were having a party looked forward to it.

Pettersen put the lack of enthusiasm down to a clash of work cultures.

“If . . . it’s Friday night drinks and it’s all that sort of stuff all the time, the Christmas party is probably going to reflect that kind of culture. And the people who don’t like that . . . are not going to find the Christmas party cool.

“If it’s . . . very conservative and no one’s ever allowed to have a drink at work . . . the Christmas party will probably be along the same lines and people will be saying, ‘Crikey, this is unbelievably boring, why would I go and waste my time . . .’”