Christmas party or Christmas problem?

'Tis the season to be jolly and to attend the yearly corporate shindig - the office Christmas party. The idea of this annual event is rooted in corporate goodwill. A way to show appreciation to your employees for a year of hard work. Some may view the office Christmas party as a corporate-like event that they, being mindful of their career, must attend. And then there's the inevitable visitation of the drunken lout who takes the celebration a bit too far.

In an independent survey of 1000 office workers reveal that one out of five workers regret their actions at the office Christmas party.

• A third of office workers have gone home with or kissed a colleague or client at their office Christmas party.

• A tenth of workers have been sick in front of colleagues due to excessive drinking.

• A tenth of office workers have told a colleague or boss that they fancy them.

• A third of office workers admitted dreading 'the walk of shame' to work the next morning.

• A tenth of workers take the opportunity of their bosses 'high spirits' to ask for a pay rise.

• Two fifths of office workers admitted that they regrettably bad-mouthed bosses or co-workers while intoxicated at the office Christmas party.

• A third of workers owned up to "dancing like an idiot" in front of the boss.

• A fifth of employees regretted belting out karaoke songs in front of their colleagues.

As an employer, you will have to think about how you will deal with any matters of employee misconduct at the office party. Remember, employers can be liable for employees' actions at work-related social functions. Make it clear to all staff, in advance, that the company's rules of conduct and disciplinary procedures will still apply.

News & Comment

> Employees addicted to Social Networking sites

More than half of employees (55% in the U.S. and 52% in the U.K.) are using internet social networks at work according to internet security company 8e6 Technologies. Even more employees (72% in the U.S. and 80% in the U.K.) think they should be given full access to social networking sites for personal reasons. This notion seems to be held across all age groups - especially in the UK. Their use of the internet could have serious implications for business systems as the most popular sites viewed at work on both sides of the Atlantic include video and applications-heavy Web 2.0 destinations, particularly social networking and news sites.

Over a half of respondents said that their organisations had an Internet Use Policy stating the rules on internet use at work, but only 3% of British respondents and 5% in the U.S. had been disciplined for policy violations.

A massive 85% of U.S. employees and 89% in the U.K. thought that their level of personal internet use at work was acceptable, with 34% of those in the U.S. and 35% in the U.K. spending at least an hour or more each working day on personal internet use.

Do you have an internet policy? Do you know how much time your staff are spending on personal internet use and more importantly, how much this is costing your business?

> Migrants Have No Effect On Unemployment

A recent study for the Department for Work and Pensions concludes that migration from Eastern Europe has not had any statistically significant impact on unemployment, work for the young or unskilled or wages.

Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform Stephen Timms said:
"Migrants from Eastern Europe have come to the UK to work and have been a benefit to our economy, allowing companies to grow and create more jobs. As this research shows these migrants have not taken jobs away from British workers and have not impacted on wages.
"The numbers of people claiming unemployment benefits are at levels as low as 30 years ago, while the number of vacancies in the economy continue to rise. What we need to do now is ensure we continue helping those young people with low skills to get the training and support they need to make the most of the opportunities which exist."

A separate TUC study concludes that the inflow of migrants to the UK is a significant benefit to the UK economy, citing Treasury estimates that migrant workers are responsible for around 10% of economic growth. 'The economics of migration' concludes that far from being a drain on the welfare state, migrant workers pay more in taxes than the value they receive from public services. According to the TUC, their research shows that migrant workers have not depressed jobs or wages. There is some evidence of a local effect on the wages and employment of low-skilled workers but these employees have not lost out.

Quote for December…

“Work is the curse of the drinking classes.”
Oscar Wilde

Sapience HR offers effective outsourced Human Resources and Personnel services and Consultancy so that companies have the right people and systems in place to achieve their business objectives.

© Sapience HR 2008