A. It sounds as if you were really lucky that she didn't take the matter further. Every year there is a fall out after Christmas when disciplinary cases and sometimes dismissals follow incidents at Christmas events. Some of these even make it to Employment Tribunal — much to the delight of the tabloids.
Given that you know what went on last year, you find yourself in serious trouble if you don't take action now to prevent a repetition . Sexual harassment is a serious issue and if it occurs in the work environment you could be found liable for the actions of your staff.
Now is the time to tell all your staff what sort of behaviour is unacceptable and what you will do if you find any cases of it. On the part of your staff they cannot say they didn't know what was expected of them, they also cannot blame their misconduct on being drunk — that simply won't wash. If you don't have a policy on harassment at work, get one now and communicate it to staff.
After the event you must investigate properly any allegations of harassment. If you dismiss the allegations out of hand on the grounds that 'these things always happen at parties', you could find yourself facing an allegation of sex discrimination — and there are no limits to the compensation a tribunal can award in such cases. Increasingly organisations are taking such allegations more seriously. Recently the head of fashion firm New Look was fired for patting an employee's bottom at an industry function.
Q. My staff tell me my middle name is Scrooge, but even so do I have to give them Christmas Day off work?
A. There is no statutory right to have Christmas Day (or indeed any other Bank or Public Holiday) given as a holiday. All the law does is to say that all employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 days paid holiday a year. What you must do is to ensure that you are following the requirements of their contract which may well say that they are entitled to Bank and Public Holidays as holiday. Some organisations now have arrangements whereby staff are given say 30 days holiday a year which includes Bank and Public Holidays and have the flexibility as to when all these holidays are taken.
Regardless of the contractual arrangements though, Christmas working can be a very sensitive issue and regardless of your rights as an employer you are always better off getting employees to agree to what you are seeking, rather than simply imposing it. Incidentally, if your staff do work over Christmas there is no legal entitlement to additional pay, although many organisations will pay up to five times the normal hourly rate.
Q. Am I responsible for what my staff get up to at the Christmas party — after all they are not at work?
A. You are responsible for them and what they do at company-organised social events. The law regards these events as extensions of the working environment and as such the normal rules of employment still exist. This can put you in a difficult situation as clearly no employer is going to countenance any form of harassment — yet unless you have taken very clear steps to prevent it you could be liable. You would also need to consider carefully the implications if you provide a free bar that results in excessive drunkenness.
Also, you may have to address such issues as employees losing their driving licence due to a drink driving conviction following a works party. In a situation like this the onus would be on you to investigate carefully and consider what action to take in the light of the impact on the company's name as well as the ability of the employee to do their job without a driving licence.
Source
Construction Manager
Postscript
Quentin Colborn is a consultant for QC People Management. Visit www.qcpeople.co.uk or call 01275 840 116