Entrepreneur's Journal: Making sure the holiday party doesn't become a legal nightmare

Posted Dec 6th 2009 5:40PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Law, Employees, Small Business

As the recession lingers, employees are getting more litigious. According to a report from BNA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 93,277 private sector discrimination charges this year. It's the second highest in 20 years and the agency is thinking about increasing its staff to deal with the surge.

In light of all this, business owners definitely need to be vigilant. In fact, one of the biggest risks for employment problems comes during the holidays, especially with the end-of-the-year party.

So, to get some insight, I talked to Heather Gatley, who is the executive VP of human resources and the general counsel at AlphaStaff.

Messaging: Try to make the event nonreligious. This means avoiding phrases like "Christmas party" and so on.

True, this seems kind of strict. But why give attorneys any ammunition for a court case? A seemingly simple party invitation can be juicy evidence in a legal fight.

Party Pooper: Have one person who essentially monitors things (this means he or she must not be drinking, of course). The person will try to stop rowdiness or inappropriate behavior. After all, with the pervasiveness of digital cameras, some racy photos may show up the next day on employee Facebook pages.

Actually, a good way to reduce these problems is to invite spouses and the family. Often, this means fewer embarrassing moments.

Alcohol: By far, this is the biggest source of problems. But, there are some ways to handle things. For example, you can provide, say, two drink tickets for each person. Also, you can serve food with the drinks, which should help moderate things.

Some other ideas include stopping drink service at a certain time and even providing free cab rides.

Resources: Understanding HR rules can certainly help save your company a bundle. While it's important to get help from legal counsel, there are some good books on the topic, such as HR for Small Business.

Tom Taulli provides a variety of financial services to business owners, such as business plans, cash flow management and taxes. You can reach him at taulli.com.

Tags: AlphaStaff, featured, Heather Gatley, holiday parties, HR

Print this

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

12-15-2009 @ 11:41PM

FLLady said...

If I had to worry about lawsuits everytime I had a employee party, they would all just get gift certificates. Lawsuits should be for the worst of the worst & not just a way to squeeze money out of someone. If someone acts inappropriately, deal with it - like in the old days... Walk away, tell them off or just tell your boss. Most of the time, at least for me, it was the boss who was acting like an @ss...