With just over a month to go until Christmas and several weeks left at work to power through, many employers will be turning their attention towards the Christmas party!

The office Christmas party should provide staff with the chance to let their hair down with colleagues and build strong working relationships and most companies want to reward their staff for their hard work and dedication during the year. However, a festive combination of high spirits and unlimited alcohol can often result in a headache for those employers (or their HR managers) who are tasked with successfully navigating the minefield of workplace Christmas parties.

No-one wants to be a party pooper after all, but if you are an employer or member of your workplace’s HR department, it pays to be prepared for the festive season. Some key areas to be aware of when you start to plan your approach to the Christmas party include:

Behaviour

Some employers shy away at the thought of reiterating company codes of conduct in relation to social events, but you shouldn’t be afraid of setting out clear behaviour guidelines as to what is acceptable on the night itself. Taking the time to remind staff that the Christmas party still constitutes a work-related event and that, as such, the company will therefore be held responsible for any disruptive actions, can help to set the tone of expectations from the start.

It should be made clear that any breach of your usual standards of conduct could result in an employee facing formal disciplinary procedures, or further action depending on the nature of their behaviour.

Alcohol

Most firms are eager to repay hardworking employees with a generous or even free bar allowance at the Christmas party, but with free alcohol being named as a pivotal factor in tribunal proceedings brought against companies by their employees, it would be wise to exercise a note of caution.

If you are keen to provide a free bar, ensure that you also provide a range of soft drinks that all employees can access, and try to roughly monitor the level of alcohol consumption as the night draws on. Issuing free drinks tokens, with a set number available to each attendee, can also help you to try to keep alcohol consumption under control.

Social media

The growing prevalence of social media means that inappropriate use can be a business issue at any time, but work-related social gatherings can require stricter guidance. Successful management, as with behaviour, comes down to issuing clear guidelines to all staff – if you would rather they didn’t upload photos and videos from the evening to social media, you must explain why, and the potential impact that negative or offensive content could have on the wider business.

Another option that you could consider could be to ask that all employees’ use a specific hashtag when uploading images and footage – that way, you can sense-check what content is being shared, and politely ask that people remove anything that isn’t appropriate. Christmas party season can act as a good time to remind people of your business’s social media policy, or to consider drawing one up if you do not already have guidelines in place.

Entertainment

If you have decided to hold your event externally, or you have bought tickets for a themed Christmas party that accommodates other companies, consider the type of entertainment that will be provided on the night. Is the running order of the evening suitable for all staff? Is there something included that everyone will enjoy in some capacity?

For example, a casino-themed evening is likely to have a heavy reliance on gambling for entertainment – great if your employees are up for roulette and blackjack, but it could be seen as isolating for anyone whose religion bans the practice, or even for those who may have family members negatively affected by gambling.

Consider your audience carefully when weighing up entertainment options for your Christmas party!

Absence management

This topic rears its head every year, but absences do tend to spike during the Christmas period for many businesses. To try and avoid any unnecessary absences, some companies opt to hold their Christmas party on a Friday – often at extra cost to the business, but this can pay for itself in terms of allowing employees’ two days in which to ‘recover’ before their attendance in the office is again required.

If your party does happen to fall on a weekday, you must make all staff aware of what is expected from them the following day – could you consider a later start in the morning, or perhaps an earlier finish time? Could you consider staggering working hours across teams? Ultimately, if you lay out exactly what you expect from people regarding the following working day, you are far more likely to avoid late night and alcohol-related absences.

Top six tips to ensure a successful Christmas party:

• Provide clear guidance on the standard of behaviour expected – ensure that staff understand that the Christmas party is still a professional event

• Send reminders advising people to make arrangements for travelling home – could you prebook taxis from the venue for staff?

• Ensure that a range of refreshments, including soft drinks, are provided in order to cater to everyone.

• Reiterate guidelines around social media – make staff aware of what they can and cannot post.

• Consider inclusivity and discrimination when planning entertainment for the evening.

• Make it clear that attendance is not compulsory – respect that people may have religious beliefs or prior plans that mean they cannot commit to attending.

For any advice please email nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or call +44 7917 878384

Flexibility about employees’ desire to carry out their job while living abroad may well prove a good way of ensuring your company can retain its talent.

The UK is facing a talent drain. Recent figures from the Totaljobs Hiring Trends Index reveal that more than 4.5 million UK workers are considering moving overseas for a better quality of life. Factors such as the recent pandemic and the escalating cost of living has made more people than ever consider leaving the UK.

This is also against the background of the “great resignation” which has seen high numbers of people either leave their jobs or consider new roles since the pandemic. All of this presents a very real recruitment crisis for businesses. So in order to attract and retain talent, should you let employees work abroad?

Some jobs just aren’t suitable for workers based overseas, as they require a high volume of in-person meetings or visits. But post-pandemic, it’s likely more businesses could accommodate overseas workers. And if you fail to implement a proper policy for overseas workers, might they just go anyway?

Digital nomads

Interestingly, there has been a growing number of stories of “secret” digital nomads – people who either asked their employer if they could work abroad and the request was turned down but they moved anyway, or those who just decided to up-sticks between lockdowns and haven’t returned.

Many organisations in the UK are recognising the need to respond to this desire for a combination of overseas travel and work amongst their staff and are implementing a Working from Anywhere Policy which is being incorporated into Staff Handbooks. This may cover permanent overseas working and more temporary stints of time working abroad.

Permanent overseas working

If you are going to allow employees to work for you abroad on a permanent basis there are a few considerations to take into account:

• Tax considerations. How you calculate both PAYE tax and National Insurance contributions depends on where your employee is based and how long you expect them to be working there. Employees who spend most of their time abroad over the year may be able to obtain full UK tax relief on their earnings.

• Legal rights. Again, it is country-dependent, but an employee working abroad may or may not be subject to local employment laws, so some contractual terms need addressing. This is the case even if an employee’s contract is specifically stated to be governed by the laws of England and Wales. So for example, employers should be mindful that their employees may be entitled to more generous rights or protections in relation to paid leave, minimum wage or rights on termination depending on the jurisdiction they are working in. For example, Sweden, France and Denmark offer more paid leave than the UK’s 28 days. Taking local advice is important.

• Cyber security. With the mass switch to working from home at the beginning of the pandemic, many businesses will have already taken a magnifying glass to their cyber security to ensure any employees working from home were not inadvertently putting any of the company’s data at risk. An additional consideration is if an employee starts to work from another country and is processing personal data.

• Supporting employees and making them feel part of the team. Of course, there are myriad issues to consider when an employee moves abroad, or you recruit abroad. However, one important thing to consider is how to integrate and support these employees. Regular contact – both formal and informal – is important, as is a focus on mental health, especially when the team is so physically disparate. Creating bespoke mental health policies and having an unrelenting focus on staff wellbeing is crucial in ensuring all team members feel supported.

• Clear policy is essential. Finally, one of the most important steps you can take is to ensure your rules on working abroad are clear. The very existence of a Working from Anywhere policy signals that the employer would support a move – clear parameters contained in that policy are obviously going to be key.

Temporary overseas working

Whilst some of the above will be relevant, if the period overseas is much more of a temporary move for your employee (ie. a matter of weeks or months) then really it should be a light touch administrative process (also contained within any Working from Anywhere policy) with the following as a checklist to consider:

• This is a privilege, not a right, and so are there any performance issues? If there are you may not approve remote overseas working.

• What is the time difference in the location proposed? Might you want to specify remote working only in certain time zones or specify a number of hours during the UK working day that the employee needs to be online.

• Does their current workload allow for it? Do they have a run of client facing meetings coming up for which they will be required to be present?

• How long are they proposing to be out of the country? Do you want to set a maximum number of days to be outside the UK and does that include weekends and bank holidays and can they add on annual leave?

• Lastly what is their set up when they are remote working? Obviously camping is not going to be conducive to a day’s work – they need to confirm they are in a house, have a good wifi connection and be happy to send you a photo of their work station.

For either of the following do contact nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or call +44 7917878384:

• Working from Anywhere Policy
• Homeworking Risk Assessment

Pregnancy loss is devastating. According to the UK’s Miscarriage Association, one in four pregnancies result in miscarriage (defined in the UK as the loss of a pregnancy within the first 23 weeks and six days of pregnancy). According to the NHS, around one in 90 UK pregnancies is ectopic and one in every 200 births in England is a stillbirth (death occurring after 24 weeks of pregnancy).

Despite the statistics, pregnancy loss seems to still be very much a taboo subject and people are uncomfortable raising it with employers or colleagues. The fact that many people do not announce their pregnancy within the first 12 weeks (which is when most miscarriages occur) increases the likelihood of them being isolated when faced with pregnancy loss and feeling like they have to deal with the bereavement alone and without support.

Having a formal policy in place sends a clear message to staff that those affected by pregnancy loss should not feel shy about coming forward and that they will be met with support by their employer if they do. It enables people to ask for help without fear of being discriminated against, stigmatised, or judged. It is also a significant step towards normalising what has historically been a taboo subject.

The current legal position in the UK

Since 6 April 2020:

• employees have the right to take statutory parental bereavement leave on the death of a child under 18 years of age, including stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

• if stillbirth occurs after 24 weeks of pregnancy, the parents are entitled to the same statutory maternity and paternity leave and pay they would have been entitled to, had the stillbirth not occurred.

• neither of the above apply to other forms of pregnancy loss.

Where there is pregnancy loss before 24 weeks:

• there is no legal entitlement to any leave or pay in those circumstances.

• employers have the discretion to offer their staff leave under:

o their compassionate leave policy (if they have one),
o annual leave, or
o unpaid leave.

• the employee may also be signed off sick for medical reasons.

A policy for pregnancy loss

An employer could offer to all employees, regardless of their length of service or sex/gender, all or some of the following:

• ten days’ paid leave if they or their partner experience the loss of a baby through miscarriage, abortion, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, or neonatal pregnancy, without having to certify their absence.

• paid leave to attend medical appointments (or to accompany a partner to such appointments) that do not fall within the agreed period of leave (for example, medical examinations, scans/tests, and mental-health-related appointments).

• staff may also be entitled to additional leave under the firm’s existing sickness absence, annual leave, or compassionate leave policies.
What else can employers do?

Putting in place a formal policy is clearly one way of supporting staff affected by pregnancy loss. However, there are plenty of other things employers can do:

• raising awareness of pregnancy loss by sharing information and promoting open conversations about the matter so that it is not seen as a taboo or “no-go area”. Employees should be given comfort that they can have confidential conversations with their manager or HR in the event they are affected by pregnancy loss.

• signposting other sources of information and support, such as any employee assistance programmes offered.

• training managers in spotting the signs that an employee may be experiencing loss and how to support them by sensitively acknowledging their situation, explaining what help the employer can provide, and reassuring them that they will not be disadvantaged if they take leave.

• extending existing benefits such as compassionate leave and pay to expressly cover pregnancy loss.

• offering paid leave for employees to attend medical appointments associated with pregnancy loss (including mental-health-related appointments).

• offering unpaid leave to those who need time off for an extended period, such as those suffering from extended physical or mental effects of pregnancy loss.

• offering a phased return to work and, possibly, flexible working to those who take a period of leave following pregnancy loss.

If you are interested in discussing or adding a ‘pregnancy loss policy’ to your staff handbook do email nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or call Nicola on +44 7917 878384