What’s in store for your Christmas party?
The scaled back festive party might not see hungover workers waking naked in a paddock miles from home — and that’s no bad thing, says a lawyer, writes Benn Bathgate.
‘‘ Fork and talk’’ will replace the usual formal dinner at Hamilton City Council’s staff Christmas function, as employers across the region grapple with the desire for a post-Covid gettogether against rising cost of living expenses.
As the Christmas Party season looms, and food prices see their largest spike in 14 years, Stuff spoke to two of Hamilton’s biggest employers, and hospitality operators, to ask whether it’s party on this year, or if the Grinch has already stolen Christmas.
Hamilton City Council chief executive Lance Vervoort, said that after a two-year break in festivities due to Covid, council would hold an end of year staff function this year.
He said it was an important opportunity for council to acknowledge the hard work of staff after ‘‘what has been a challenging twoand-a-half years’’.
It will be the only budgeted staff celebration, he said, and the only chance to bring together staff from nearly 30 sites.
Vervoort said they would use a council venue for the celebration, and would provide ‘‘fork and talk food, rather than a formal dinner as in previous years’’.
He said the event would cost approximately $35 per employee, and would be after hours ‘‘so there is no cost in staff time’’. Staff at the University of Waikato can also look forward to a Christmas function, with lunch for both Hamilton and Tauranga employees.
‘‘This year will be the first Christmas function for staff since the beginning of the pandemic,’’ said vice-chancellor Neil Quigley.
‘‘To keep costs down, celebrations are scaled down to a single all-staff event per campus, rather than individual divisional events.’’
He said the University had worked closely with on-site caterers to manage costs, while still providing ‘‘an appropriate recognition of the hard work that staff have put in over 2022’’.
He said the approximate cost per head would be $23.
For Hamilton hospitality magnate John Lawrenson, however, it’s shaping up to be a good Christmas.
‘‘What we are seeing is actually pretty strong business.’’
He said a pent-up desire after past Christmas seasons were clouded by the spectre of Covid was evident, and that while inflation was hitting some in the pocket, ‘‘some businesses have done well’’.
He did concede that many businesses making bookings this year have proved to be more ‘‘cost conscious’’ than in the past.
He said catering budgets were being slimmed down, and he was taking more bookings for events on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Lawrenson’s views were echoed by Hazel Hayes Catering owner Dylan Bhantoa.
He said they were completely booked out for the next few weeks until Christmas, and that for some clients ‘‘the budget has changed’’.
Edible Solutions owner Tracey
‘‘It might not be the full banquet and open bar, but there’s definitely a desire to get together. People have spent two years at home.’’ Hospitality NZ chief executive Julie White
Glubb said she had seen a drop in private functions this year, and that many corporate clients were scaling back their orders too.
Hospitality NZ chief executive Julie White said operators she had spoken to said their biggest concerns were inflation and staff shortages, and these were combining to force some hospitality providers to cap the number of available bookings they offer this year.
‘‘There definitely has been a cost pressure coming through,’’ she said. ‘‘It might not be the full banquet and open bar, but there’s definitely a desire to get together. People have spent two years at home.’’
The demise of the open bar might not be all bad news however, at least according to Dundas Street Employment Lawyers partner Ros Webby.
She said that 99.99 per cent of the time, issues at staff Christmas functions can be traced back to one thing: Alcohol.
‘‘For some, it creates a ticking time bomb out of unaired work grievances or slights, petty and serious, and that bomb will explode, at times in spectacular fashion.’’
She said clients in the past have found themselves dealing with ‘‘split lips, broken bones and teeth on the floor (literally), and multiple disciplinary processes right on Christmas.’’
She said she was even aware of a partygoer who woke up ‘‘naked in a field in the middle of rural Manawatu – when the function was in central Wellington’’.
Webby also had some advice for staff ahead of their Christmas function.
‘‘Pretend there are clients or customers, and the media, present throughout the night and let that guide the way you behave.’’