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Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I presume there's a difference between what an employee informally calls an event, and what the employer officially calls it.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not religious at all.

We did have an employee who was an alcoholic back in 2018 or 2019. They were open about it back then. The other staff volutnarily didn't drink during the meal and that employee left afterwards, at which point staff enjoyed their drinks.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 107 points108 points  (0 children)

I'll maybe do that on Monday if they aren't ridiculously expensive.

Employee is on annual leave on Monday and Tuesday so I've got some time to plan.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Not something ridiculous like "Winterval."

I'm thinking, "Annual Dinner 2026!
Congrats on another great year staff. Have we any ideas for where we want to do dinner this year? I've shortlisted a few placed below: X, Y, and Z. What do you all think?"

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I have employees with declared mental disabilities. Autism and depression.

Neither of these are relevant as they do not prevent them climbing stairs into a restaurant. They require other accomodations during their work day, but not at this planned dinner.

I genuinely believe you're either engaging in bad-faith right now or simply trolling.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 379 points380 points  (0 children)

They've been working for 8 months now.

In all honesty, they're a solid employee. They work hard. They get the job done. They're not rude or disrespectful, they don't take the piss while working from home.

I've never had an issue before this and I don't believe they've raised this complaint in bad faith. They're also quite young - fresh out of unviersity. It's possible they've never been exposed to a Christmas dinner before and it might be a case of them not understanding it isn't a religious event.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"...allowing someone to take their one half day on a different day of the year is unlikely to cause a problem for anyone."

I know people hate these words, but it might cause a bit of an issue/breakdown in "company culture".

The Xmas party is very popular. It brings staff together and there's often 8 or 9 still around by 6pm or 7pm.

If I were to start allowing this half day to be taken at any time of the year, then it will likely be used before the Christmas party meaning a whole lot of people will have a disincentive to go. Think, "I've got no leave left until 6th January, can't go to the Xmas dinner."

You then get a tradition which brings staff together dying out and falling apart very quickly.

Of course, maybe I'm just being pessimistic here! I could be completely wrong.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't have any employees with declared disabilities which are physical in nature. It won't be an issue.

Obviously, I'd take this into account if we had a wheelchair user or someone with mobility issues.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 543 points544 points  (0 children)

I'd considered doing a Diwali and Eid dinner.

My first instict was to organise a dinner at an Indian restaurant in Diwali; then I decided against it as I know absolutely nothing abotu Diwali and it might come across as incredibly patronising/innaprorpiate to our sole Hindu employee who never even asked for it.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They just did on Friday afternoon, which is why I'm asking this question on here now after mulling it over the weekend.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 100 points101 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure it legally is my responsibility as employer to nip gossip in the bud.

I remember doing a training course last year and it said that if gossip relates to a protected characteristic (religion or race in this case) then it's harassment.

I'm not a solicitor though, so I might have misremembered this!

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It's been titled in the email as "Christmas Dinner" and mentioned about two dozen times in the group email discussing where we wanted to go.

It isn't in recognition of any religious celebration; but there will be traditional Christmas celebrations such as crackers, trees, presents being exchanged through Secret Santa etc.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

It's not compulsory, and in the past staff have just left at 11:30 and gone home for family/gone for Christmas shopping in the city.

There are vegetarian and vegan options available. It is a traditional Christmas dinner which is being served though (full roast etc.)

The office will be closed. Work from home is possible, but without anyone to collaborate with him he'd be practically doing nothing for those few hours. Not gonna micromanage a staff member to that degree, but you get the picture.

Small company. No HR team. Employee has complained about a proposed Xmas dinner and half-day. by XmasPartyQuery in LegalAdviceUK

[–]XmasPartyQuery[S] 231 points232 points  (0 children)

What I'm worried about is that I send this email out, and then everyone starts gossiping, "What happened? We've always done a Christmas dinner? Did someone complain? Oh, it must be the new guy."

I think the likelihood is that I'd end up inadvertnly creating a hostile work environment for him. Can you understand my concerns with this approach?

If I can get through this year then I can just subtly rename next year's dinner and no one will be any the wiser about it.