Are organisations responsible for the behaviour of their employees at work Christmas parties?
• If they are work Christmas parties organised by the organisation, then yes they are. • Organisations are required to take reasonable steps to ensure that their employees do not engage in discrimination. A failure to take reasonable steps can expose organisations to a complaint of discrimination. • Reasonable steps can include training staff and making them aware of their obligations not to discriminate against other staff, and developing policies and procedures for handling discrimination complaints. • If an organisation becomes aware that an employee may have discriminated against another employee at the Christmas party, the organisation must deal with this in the same way they would have had it occurred at the office during normal office hours.
