Articles From the Team

‘Tis the Season…

Most people will have had their Christmas parties by now but if yours is still beckoning, I’ve read a few things recently about appropriate behaviour at the works do and who is held responsible if things go wrong…

Do…

- Feel free to avail yourself of the free bar and get really quite tipsy, especially if the bosses have given you the go-ahead to ‘fill your boots’ - Throw some interesting shapes on the dancefloor, but be careful not to take someone’s eye out - Engage in general jollity & banter and crack some jokes if you feel the mood take you - Stay up beyond your bedtime and feel a wee bit withered in the office the next day

Don’t….

- Sexually harass anyone - Set about the guy in accounts, who you’ve never liked, with your fists - Get so drunk that you start stealing people’s drinks and making offensive remarks to all & sundry which they WILL remember in the morning, even if you don’t - Throw up on the dancefloor

It can be a fine line between ‘having a good time and being a bit lairy’ and ‘completely inappropriate’ and after a fair few drinks have gone down, the line can sometimes seem a bit blurred.

Now I’m not suggesting that people should go round hitting each other under any circumstances, but it’s good to remember that if you lamp someone across the jaw and give them a head injury during the Christmas party, then the company can be held liable for your actions under the principles of vicarious liability, as it can be held that you were acting ‘in the course of your employment’.

I think most people would agree that nothing says P45 more emphatically than your company getting sued as a result of your drunken actions at the Christmas do, so eat drink and be merry, but maybe just sneak a glass of water from time to time during the evening to keep you on the straight & narrow.. (Or am I just showing my age?!)

For more information contact Juliet Lawson at BCL Legal.