With Christmas fast approaching, this article deals with some common seasonal employee issues.

The weather is terrible and my employees can’t get to work.

Depending on the job role, you might be able to ask your employees to work from home or from an alternative location.

If you shut the workplace, you could put them on lay off (as long as you have a contractual clause allowing you to do this, or their consent). Otherwise, you’ll need to pay them as usual.

If the workplace is open, but they can’t work due to their own personal circumstances, it would be annual leave, unpaid leave, or an arrangement to make up the time.

I’m worried that some of my employees will behave inappropriately at the work Christmas party.

A Christmas party, whether or not it is held in the office, is an extension of the workplace, and so usual rules about behaviour apply.

Unfortunately, the presence of alcohol and the loss of inhibitions can lead to issues such as damage to company property, sexual harassment, insensitive social media posts, and breaches of confidentiality.

If you, as an employer, host an event, you can potentially be held vicariously liable for the actions of your employees.

If you are yet to have your Christmas party, we recommend that you send employees a friendly reminder of their responsibilities and the behaviour expected of them. Consider limiting alcohol (for example, by not providing an unlimited free supply of drinks), make sure that dietary requirements are catered for, and that the venue is accessible to any employees with disabilities.

If you attend the party, avoid getting into discussions which would be more suitable for sober working hours, such as conversations around grievances, pay, or employee performance.

If the party results in an office romance, consider whether the two employees can still work together, or whether one of them should be moved to a different department.

 My employees are calling in sick, but I suspect that they’re hungover or going Christmas shopping.

Deal with any absences in December the way you would the rest of the year. Remember that people do genuinely get ill more in the cold weather and so don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions. However, keep a record of patterns of absence, and if you have a genuine reason to suspect that someone is lying, you can address it under your disciplinary policy.

Consider giving employees a paid late start of the day after the work Christmas party, or allowing them to take annual leave – chances are they won’t be at their most productive anyway. When it comes to jobs that involve driving or operating heavy machinery, you should have a zero tolerance policy towards employees who are still over the limit from the night before.

I want my employees to take annual leave over the Christmas shutdown, but I forgot to tell them.

Be clear about when employees are expected to work and whether they will have to take holiday out of their allowance, or whether you are giving them additional paid time off.

If they don’t want to take any time off, then you can make them take annual leave but only if you have enough time to give them twice the length of notice as the period of annual leave you wish them to take, for example two weeks’ notice to take one week’s leave. However, if they’ve used all their holiday for the year you can’t force them to take unpaid leave or force them to use holiday entitlement from the next holiday year.

No one wants to work between Christmas and New Year.

If your business is open over Christmas, especially if you need staff on Christmas Day itself, give some thought to how your procedure for annual leave requests works. A first come first served system is often fair, or you could look at who had Christmas Day off in previous years.

My employees want a Christmas bonus.

There’s no statutory right to a bonus. However, if you have a contractual agreement about a bonus, you must honour this. If you have nothing in writing but have given a bonus for many years, then your employees may have an argument that they’re entitled to a bonus by custom and practice.

We like to relax the dress code over Christmas, but can I still put guidelines in place?

Christmas jumper days are fun for many employees, but make it clear that offensive images or slogans, or particularly revealing clothing is not appropriate. If there are health and safety concerns and PPE is needed, or if employees who will be meeting clients on that day would be expected to dress in their usual uniform or business attire, tell employees this in advance.

Can we exchange gifts?

Remind employees of your gifts policy and whether they are permitted to accept small gifts from suppliers or customers, with or without informing a manager.

If you have an office Secret Santa, remind employees that all gifts should be appropriate and non-offensive.

 Some of my employees don’t celebrate Christmas.

Make it clear that Christmas attire, and attendance at Christmas events is optional.

Other religious and cultural holidays take place around this time of year – like Winter Solstice or Hannukah. Marking these will help all your staff feel appreciated and included.

Keep an eye out for any staff who find this time of year difficult, and offer support when necessary.

My employees are distracted.

To a certain extent this is inevitable at this time of year, but if it is becoming a problem, send a memo around reminding employees of the relevant policies, such as those regarding personal use of the internet, having parcels delivered to work, and punctuality.

Decorations.

If you’re putting up decorations, make sure that you do a quick risk assessment. Ladders should be in good working use, decorations shouldn’t be draped over radiators (as this is a fire risk), and electrical cables shouldn’t be trailing along the floor ready to trip people up. After all, you wouldn’t want any ‘elf and safety issues’.

If you require support on any of the above issues, please contact us by emailing enquiries@perspectivehr.co.uk or by phoning 01392 247436.