company sponsored events

Amazing · July 2003

We would like to close our office 1 hour early and provide beer and snacks for a celebration in the office. Is there any reason why this is not a good idea or any "law" we would be breaking?

scottorr · July 2003

The only thing I would be concerned with is liability. If one of the ees drives under the influence and injures or kills someone, they will come after the company.

sonny · July 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-23-03 AT 01:56PM (CST)[/font][p]We have disscussed this often here. .try a search using alcohol. .long and short of it Scott is right regarding liability. .and then there is always the person who has one too many and says the wrong thing to the wrong person, etc. I do not advocate this, but one hour after work is not as bad as some I've heard of and or participated in

If you insist on doing this, I would move it off site, be sure it is voluntary and have lots of pop and alternatives to the alcohol

ray a · July 2003

I agree with Sonny 100%. But, along with the pop, provide some soda, too.

sonny · July 2003

If you ever want to end up in Ohio, Ray you are going to have to learn how to say pop.

NicoleLee · July 2003

Not true!!! Many of us in Ohio say soda...I HATE when folks say "POP"!!

I agree that the event should not take place at the workplace. However, there was a case a while ago that set a precedent for work sponsered/related events serving alcohol. Even if the event is off-site, the employer can still be held responsible for an employees actions after drinking at a company event. I do not remember the case, but the biggest factor in holding the company liable was that the company encouraged the event, and it took place directly after and during work hours, and folks went directly from work to the bar/grill/etc... I will try to get the article (It is somewhere at home in my disasterous office)

Steve McElfresh · July 2003

I need to be a little contrary on this one. We in HR tend to run the other way when we hear they may be liability in a proposed action. But notice that this is not what happens in business generally.

Whether it is an alcohol event or any other business decision, I would encourage you to take two more steps, once you come to understand that there may be some risk/liability:
1. are there reasonable ways to minimize the risk? and
2. are there benefits/gains well in excess of the possible (as well as probable) risk?

Now, I can't answer these questions for your workplace. It may be that things like your workforce, your supervisors, and/or the inability to manage a flexible alcohol use policy makes it impossible. But I can tell you that many companies manage this on a regular basis. Including one I know of that had, as part of their catering, a beer truck pull up onto the central plaza on occasional summer afternoons (ended for economic, not legal, reasons). Ah, the glory days of high-tech profitability!

What I observe about those companies that have made this work is that they have supervisors/managers taking responsibility to oversee use during the event, lots of alternatives to alcohol along with food, a relatively professional workforce, and a consistent policy that is harsh for on-site alcohol use outside of sanctioned events. And the events were often treasured for the opportunity to connect with other departments and senior executives.

Maybe it won't work for you; my general point is just don't run for cover when someone waves a "liability/risk" banner. Instead, to the best of your ability, look at how to minimize risk and maximize then benefit -- and then decide if it might be worth it.

Someday, over a beer, remind me to tell you about the company with a margarita machine in the lunchroom. And I am told that Coors still offers free beer to consume on-site at the end of brewery shifts, but I haven't been there to confirm.

Regards,

Steve

Steve McElfresh, PhD
Principal
HR Futures

408.605.1870

MarieA · July 2003

I worked as a temp for Miller Brewery and you could drink beer at your desk and it was provided free. I don't drink beer and had to pay for my soft drink!

E Wart · July 2003

Since I worked for a large insurance company for 19 years and am married to a defense attorney, I am a little more cautious than most people. However, I also agree you shouldn't "ruin a good time'.
Before you start, you might want to see if beer and snacks is right for your environment. Will some employees be offended by this? Just think it through. Would it be better to have an ice cream social instead? Once you decide that this type of function is appropriate.....
The first thing I would recommend you do is to contact your insurance broker to make sure there won't be any problem with your coverage. (It isn't just the accidents on the way home. What about falls in the office if someone slipped on spilled beer, fights breaking out, or passes made if someone had too much to drink. They may suggest you obtain a release from the employees who participate. They may not be worth a hill of beans, but at least make the employee think.)
Second thing is that I would give each employee 2 tickets for beer and have someone dispense the beer/play bartender (not just leave it open for anyone to drink as much as they want. In fact, I would hire a bartender so employees won't get made at another employee and that the bartender will be completely non biased.) I would have water, Cokes (which is what we say in the South instead of Pop or soft drinks), lemonade, etc. and lots of it and in lots of locations so that they could have as much as they want.
Third- I would have a long meeting with ALL supervison before. They should be given the duty to limit their drinking and monitor their employees. If someone even hints at drinking too much, take their keys away. Have either designated drivers or call a taxi for them to go home. (Don't punish them, but provide them a service.)
Fourth - make sure that all employees know that they cannot bring any alcohol or illegal substance on the property. (I once went to a company function where they limited the drinks to two per employee. One employee got louder and louder. Turned out he had a bottle hidden in his desk and would run back every now and then to re-fill.)
Fourth-relax and have a good time.
Oh yes, the suggestion that you have the function off of your property may be a good one. Talk with your insurance agent about this. (I know when I worked with the insurance company their charter had it that alcohol could not be served on any property owned by or rented in the name of the company. When we had agent functions where we served alcohol we had to get one of the agents to rent the property.
E Wart

jmpmo · July 2003

We used to do this every Friday in a law office I worked in. You were limited to two alcoholic drinks, but you had to stay for an hour after your second one. We never had any problems with it. Good luck!!

mbeam · July 2003

Like the idea of the drink tickets at an off-premise site and the company paying for the taxi service should it be needed. It's not something that we do anymore as want to provide a family friendly atmosphere and as such for our picnic don't provide alcohol. However, if people want to BYO they are welcome to do so.

Leslie · July 2003

We do this two to three times per year at off site parties - Christmas, employee appreciation, whatever. We used to do it onsite but ran out of room.

Tried tickets - didn't work. Those who didn't drink would just give the tickets to those who did. Now we have a no host bar.

Either way, someone usually ends up imbiding a bit too much. We've pulled keys, called taxis, etc.

We've never had a fight, never had an injury, never really had a problem.

And I've been doing this for six years.

moneyman · July 2003

Another note, unless I missed it in the posts above, the company needs to be cautious about any underage employees. At events like these, underage persons may think that this is a good opportunity to be able to have a beer without showing ID, you know, "just one beer won't hurt".

I was at a seminar where they showed a case study where a law firm regularly cleared the conference room 1 hour before closing on fridays and had beer, sodas and snacks available and people just wandered in and out as they pleasd. A 17-year-old intern grabbed a beer during one of these sessions and was later stopped for unsafe driving. All of the "office party" scenario was explained to the police officer and needless to say, the employer got in BIG trouble.

At my company, it was decided that is would just be easier to have non-alcoholic functions. It seemed a lot less hassles. However, there were some good suggestions above on how to try to limit your liability if you want to have drinks served.

Leslie · July 2003

Underage drinking is one of the problems of being onsite. I have 18 out 850 employees that are between 18 and 21. Trying to find them, then keep track of them on site is tough.

Then every employee is allowed to bring one adult guest. It gets crazy.

It's a good reason to go offsite with a professional bartender.

company sponsored events

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