Every January, our phones get busy. Not with strategy sessions or growth plans. With Christmas parties.
Over the years, HR Gurus has helped businesses deal with:
- an employee who fell over after a few too many and needed some very expensive dental work
- a fist fight between a business owner and a member of their own team
- propositions that should never have left anyone’s head, let alone their mouth
- a truly impressive amount of regret
- disciplinary meetings where everyone’s memory was so patchy that the employee chose to resign rather than hear what they’d allegedly done
None of these businesses planned for the night to go that way. Nobody puts “punch-up” on the run sheet.
So here are our work Christmas party tips for employers, from the people who get the phone call on Monday morning.
The Party Doesn’t End When the Bar Tab Does
First, the bit most owners don’t realise. What happens after the official party can still be a work problem.
In a recent Fair Work Commission decision, Bell v Arts Centre Melbourne [2026] FWC 3212, a work Christmas party finished around 7pm. About 20 staff then wandered 200 metres down the road to a bar. The employer didn’t organise it, pay for it or approve it.
In the smoking area, an argument escalated and one employee hit a colleague he’d never met. The colleague fell into a gas heater. The employee was sacked on the spot and argued it was none of his employer’s business. The Commission disagreed and upheld the dismissal.
Why? The two men were only there together because of the work party. And the colleague said he was afraid to work alone afterwards. That’s a work problem, wherever the bar is.
So when someone says “it was after the party, it doesn’t count”, they may be wrong. Sometimes very wrong.
Tip 1: Your Managers Are the Real Policy
You can email out a beautifully worded Christmas party policy. Most people won’t read it. What they will actually notice is their manager.
If the manager is lining up shots at 10pm, staff assume anything goes. If the manager is organising kick-ons, the after-party starts to look a lot like a work event. And if the manager laughs off an inappropriate comment, everyone sees that too.
Spend 15 minutes with your managers the week before. Tell them they’re there as leaders, not just guests. They can have fun. They just need to stay in control enough to notice when someone else isn’t.
Tip 2: Give the Night a Finish Line
Announce a finish time and stick to it. Open-ended nights are where most of our January phone calls start.
If people want to kick on, that’s their call. But managers shouldn’t be leading the charge, and the company card definitely shouldn’t be coming along.
Tip 3: Manage the Bar, Not the Fun
You don’t need a dry party. You need a sensible one.
- Drink vouchers or a capped tab, not an open bar
- Venue staff who’ll stop serving anyone who’s clearly had enough
- Proper food, served early and often
- Non-alcoholic drinks people actually want, not warm lemonade
Nobody has ever made a formal complaint about the food being too generous.
Tip 4: Plan How People Get Home
The expensive dental work story didn’t start with a fall. It started with a plan for getting to the party and no plan for getting home.
Think about transport before the night, things like cab vouchers, a venue near public transport, or a rideshare budget. It costs far less than the alternatives.
Tip 5: Take the Awkward Stuff Seriously
Christmas parties are a classic setting for sexual harassment. A “harmless” proposition from a senior person to a junior one is not harmless to the person on the receiving end.
Employers now have a positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and that includes work events. Remind everyone beforehand that your code of conduct applies at the party. Make sure people know who to talk to if something happens. Then act on it if they do.
Tip 6: Don’t Run the Investigation at the Bar
If something goes wrong on the night, the job is to get people safe and get people home. That’s it.
Don’t confront anyone. Don’t make decisions. And definitely don’t hold an impromptu disciplinary meeting next to the dance floor.
On Monday, take a breath and do it properly. Write down what people saw. Get statements while memories are as fresh as they’re going to get (which, after a Christmas party, may not be very). Let the person respond before you decide anything.
And like in our case above, if an employee offers to resign rather than go through the process, be careful. A resignation that the employee feels pushed into can come back as a dismissal claim. Get advice before you accept it.
Should You Just Cancel the Party?
We get it. After stories like these, cancelling sounds tempting.
But for most small businesses, the party does a lot for morale and costs less than you think. You can still do it well but remember it’s a work event, not a let’s get loose and end up at the strippers as a team building exercise (yes we’ve seen this too).
The answer isn’t no party. It’s a well-run one.
The Bottom Line
Your Christmas party should be the night people talk about for the right reasons.
Brief your managers. Give the night a finish line. Plan how people get home. And if it all goes wrong anyway, call someone before you do anything you’ll regret more than the karaoke.
Had a Christmas party go sideways, or want a manager briefing checklist before yours? Talk to HR Gurus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer discipline staff for what happens at an after-party?
It can, if there’s a strong enough connection to work. In Bell v Arts Centre Melbourne, the Fair Work Commission upheld a dismissal for conduct at unofficial drinks after the work party.
Is the employer responsible if someone is injured at a work Christmas party?
It depends on the facts and the state you’re in. Workers’ compensation rules differ around Australia, so get advice if someone is hurt at or after a work event.
What should a manager do if something happens at the party?
Make sure everyone is safe, get people home, and write down what they saw. Report it the next working day. Leave the investigating for later.
Should we let an employee resign instead of going through a disciplinary process?
Be careful. If the employee feels pressured, a resignation can be treated as a dismissal. Get advice before accepting it.
This article is general information only and isn’t legal advice. Whether out-of-hours conduct is connected to work depends on the facts, so get in touch with HR Gurus for advice on your situation.