The month of December is considered the “holiday season” because of so many holidays of various religions falling during December. Offices often use this opportunity to throw an annual office party in an effort to gather all of its employees together for a fun and festive occasion. A common feature at these parties is alcohol. It is served to increase the festive mood and “loosen up” stressed-out employees after a year’s worth of hard work. Unfortunately, when it comes to employer liability, alcohol is like a loaded gun.
If one of your employees is drunk, you could be held liable for any injuries that employee causes to himself or others. An extreme example, but one that, unfortunately, does happen, is if one of your employees drinks at your holiday party, drives home, and kills himself or someone else in a drunk driving accident. There is a possibility that your company could be held liable for that person’s death. Even if your company is located in a state that does not impose liability on employers serving alcohol to adults (so-called “social host” liability), your company could still be held liable for third party injuries on the theory that the employees are acting within the scope of their employment.
There are steps you can take to prevent this kind of tragedy and minimize your company’s liability. The obvious one is not to serve any alcohol. However, if you do decide to serve alcohol, there are measures you can take to decrease the risks. Some suggestions are outlined below.
- Have someone in a supervisory position be in change of serving alcohol, rather than allowing employees to self-serve. Better yet, hire a professional bartender.
- Instruct those serving alcohol to refuse to serve anyone who is visibly intoxicated.
- Limit the number of drinks each person can have by giving each person two drink tickets. Write employees’ names on their tickets to prevent ticket-swapping.
- Limit the amount of time alcohol is served (e.g. have a cocktail hour before dinner and then do not offer any more alcohol once dinner is served).
- Check personnel records to ensure that no one under 21 is permitted to drink. (This is particularly important from a liability standpoint as most states, including Pennsylvania, do impose liability on “social hosts” who serve alcohol to those under the legal drinking age.)
- Arrange transportation to take employees home, either with designated drivers, hired car services, taxis, or even a van.
- Hold the party on a Sunday afternoon or during lunch (times when people are less likely to overindulge in alcohol).
- Make the party a family affair by including spouses and children.
- Be sure to have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages and food available.
- Lead by example. Instruct supervisors and all members of upper management to set the tone by either not drinking or drinking in moderation. Ideally, there should be at least a couple of designated non-drinkers to keep an eye on things.
- Send a memo to all employees in advance of the party warning them not to drink too much and advising them of the measures the company is taking to ensure everyone’s safety, such as providing for free transportation home. Remind them that while the party is a time to have fun, it is still important to maintain a level of professionalism and the company will not look kindly upon anyone who drinks too much. You may also want to consider having employees sign a release form.
- Check your company’s general liability policies to determine what, if any, kind of coverage you have for this kind of event. Many policies specifically exclude coverage for events where alcohol is served. If your policies do not cover your holiday party, you may want to consider a “special events” or “dram shop” policy to cover the event.
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