Business

Workers and bosses opt for Christmas payments over parties

After lockdowns cancelled festive get-togethers, companies are reassessing seasonal traditions

Christmas parties: in a hybrid work environment, staff are looking for occasions to connect with colleagues. Photograph: iStock

Emma Jacobs
Thu Dec 21 2023 - 10:00

Is the big festive bash a thing of the past? It is this year for law firm RPC, which decided to ditch its traditional office-wide Christmas parties in the UK. As it has expanded and hybrid work arrangements have become the norm, managers say it has been increasingly hard to find venues and dates to bring everyone together, particularly in the season of packed festive calendars. Instead, they will organise team get-togethers.

Lockdowns forced companies to find creative ways for staff to meet virtually and reward them for working through challenging times. Online wine tasting, wreath making and quizzes replaced festive gatherings. But even with restrictions lifted, some employers have continued to eschew the all-company party.

Toucan Telemarketing, an employee-owned company, has decided this year to halt Christmas festivities in favour of vouchers. “We’ve been going for 22 years, and normally have [a sit-down dinner at a local pub] every year,” Paula Bates, managing director, says. “Covid put a stop to it, and it hasn’t happened since.”

This year the company put options to the vote: instead of a party, staff chose vouchers to help pay for their Christmas lunch at home. “One guy says he gets his turkey and party food,” Bates says. This is in addition to a bonus. “It’s nice to know they’ll have that voucher that might go towards a Christmas that might be a bit harder [due to the cost-of-living crisis].”

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The pandemic, Bates adds, challenged employers to rethink traditions that had become routine. Before lockdowns, “We wouldn’t have had a choice, we would have just had dinner, put on our party frock and had a bit of a boogie.”

The company still puts on events for the season, including Secret Santa and baking days. Bates also expects to have a summer party, avoiding the time of year when “it’s cold” and the calendar is busy. “It doesn’t have to be Christmas when you get together.”

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Cancelling can backfire. One manager says his decision to forgo a formal event due to a difficult business environment has made staff unhappy.

“I have been painted as a Grinch-like figure,” he says, and complaints have caused him “sleepless nights . . . It feels so trivial and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.”

This is not just about the bash, however: in a hybrid work environment, staff are looking for occasions to connect with colleagues. The manager believes complaining about the lack of a get-together has become “an outlet for people to vent; often the real issue is not about the Christmas party per se, it is deeper-seated grievances, about pay, organisational culture and so on.”

If done well, company events can boost morale. A recent research paper prescribed the festive ingredients in rather academic terms: “a speech by a manager, and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to enhance happiness”. Heavy drinking and inappropriate behaviour tended to dampen spirits, the paper continued. Last year a French court upheld a consultant’s right to miss his company’s social events, after he was fired for not taking part. The occasions, the judgment said, included “excessive alcoholism” and “promiscuity, bullying and incitement to various excesses”.

Sarah Harrop, employment partner at Addleshaw Goddard law firm, says while such disputes have made employers fearful, the risks are often overstated. Simple mitigations can protect staff. “It’s also sensible to have an end point that’s not too late and ensure that activities are not simply based around drinking alcohol,” she adds.

Liz Taylor, the chief executive of events planner Taylor Lynn Corporation, steered her company through a difficult period during the pandemic. “It’s been tough,” she says. “Parties are our lifeblood.” This year, getting back to normal meant cancelling her own corporate bash to cater to a client booking. Rather than postpone the Christmas get-together, she gave staff vouchers.

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Last year, staff at Novos, an employee-owned ecommerce agency, voted to redistribute the party budget as a bonus. “The cost-of-living crisis had hit,” says Antonio Wedral, co-founder. “Everyone was worried about what that meant for them going into winter.”

While he respected the vote outcome, he was worried about employees losing out on the social aspect.

“We are hybrid [working] . . . and the business went through tough moments so sharing a bit of fun together would’ve done a lot for morale.” Instead, the company organised a “small, low-key get-together at the pub next to the office with food and drinks for those that wanted to [attend], which helped morale of those wanting [to socialise] without the thousands of pounds price tag.”

This year, Novos is holding a proper party. Wedral says “the feedback from [the] majority [was] they would like to do one.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023

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