8 Ways to Minimize Legal Risk at Work-related Events

8 Ways to Minimize Legal Risk at Work-related Events Work-related social events are on the rise across most companies and can be a great way to bring all employees together to boost morale and encourage team cohesion. However, whilst you will no doubt want to reward your employees for their hard work and commitment to the business, we have all witnessed compulsory team-building events or social gatherings take a negative turn â€" especially where alcohol is involved. The usual scenarios of staff misbehaving are often entertaining, and in most instances, brushed aside as harmless fun, but the risks posed by work-related events should not be overlooked. From harassment and discrimination to work no-shows and disciplinary issues, employers could be left with more than just a sore head the next morning if an event is not managed properly. Whilst it can be hard to find the right balance when it comes to planning a work event, the best thing to do is to try and mitigate against any potential legal issues from arising in the first place. This checklist will enable everyone to relax and enjoy themselves, whilst protecting against the occurrence of any damaging employment tribunals. CHECK that you are being inclusive â€" Ensure that every single employee is invited to the event, including those on maternity and sick leave â€" this will help to mitigate against any discrimination complaints. However, some employees may not want to attend for personal, religious or health reasons, so make sure their position is taken into consideration and they do not feel under pressure to make an appearance. CHECK that you are catering for everyone â€" From the food and drink on offer to the entertainment provided, it’s important to ensure that your gatherings are welcoming to all. For example, make sure there are non-alcoholic drinks as well as catering for any specific dietary requirements. Employers should also consider reviewing any entertainers or speakers in advance to ensure that their material is appropriate and will not offend anyone present. CHECK that your staff handbook is up to date â€" Regardless of whether you are holding a social event out of hours and offsite, it can be considered an extension of the work environment.   Therefore, it is important to lay out your expectations for employee behavior including your disciplinary, anti-bullying and harassment policies to stop individuals from getting carried away. Sending an email around the week before reminding staff of your HR policies can be particularly useful! CHECK that your staff are aware of your sickness and absence policy â€" A gentle reminder about your policies will help to discourage staff from taking unjustified sick leave, or to suddenly announce they are working from home, following an event. This is particularly important if you are holding a compulsory social function in the middle of the week. CHECK that you have appropriate disciplinary procedures in place â€" In the event that a staff member does behave inappropriately at a work function, it’s important that these issues are addressed using normal disciplinary procedures. However, whilst certain steps may need to be taken at the time to diffuse a situation, its best to wait and deal with any grievances at the first opportunity when back in the office. CHECK that your staff can get home safely â€" Employers have a duty of care to their employees and this extends to ensuring that they can get home safely from any work-related social events. Make sure to advise your staff to plan their journey home in advance or consider organizing taxis or hired transport. You might even want to consider ending the celebrations before public transport stops running. CHECK that there is a limit if there is a free bar â€" Most incidents that occur at work gatherings are alcohol-fuelled. If you are providing a free bar, consider setting a limit beforehand to help mitigate against excessive consumption and hostile situations.   CHECK that you have an adequate social media policy â€" Whilst sharing pictures and videos can seem like a great idea at the time, this can lead to several problems. For example, there could be data protection issues if you do not have employees consent to post photos of them and there is also the risk staff posting messages which could cause offence and damage a company’s reputation. Having a comprehensive social media policy will help to mitigate against any inappropriate use and prevent the need for any disciplinary action. About the author: Claire Woolf is a Managing Editor at Sparqa Legal.  Sparqa Legal is an online platform providing expert legal guidance and autogenerated documents for all businesses. Founded by a team of senior barristers and tech executives, Sparqa Legal is on a mission to make law accessible and empower business to fulfil their own legal needs.  

Mean Girls At Work How to Stay Professional When Things Get Personal

Mean Girls At Work How to Stay Professional When Things Get Personal I recently interviewed the authors of  Mean Girls at Work: How to Stay Professional When Things Get Personal,  Kathi Elster and  Katherine Crowley. These two women created the yin and yang of their company, K Squared Enterprises. Since 1989, they’ve combined their complementary expertise to develop a unique method for dealing with difficult people and challenging conditions at work. Their inside-out approach transforms the way businesses uncover and resolve their greatest interpersonal dilemmas. Bestselling authors, educators, public speakers, and veteran consultants, Katherine and Kathi are seasoned guides in the area of professional fulfillment through self-awareness and self-management. They use humor and a slue of engaging techniques to mediate solutions for individuals at every level of employment â€" from executives to managers to frontline employees. Bestselling authors, educators, public speakers, and veteran consultants, Katherine and Kathi are seasoned guides in the area of professional fulfillment through self-awareness and self-management. They use humor and a slue of engaging techniques to mediate solutions for individuals at every level of employment â€" from executives to managers to frontline employees. And I love their book topic because UNFORTUNATELY, I have worked with some mean girlshavent we all?  It is good to know there is an actual system of how you can deal with these girls so thank you for writing this book Kathi and Katherine! A few highlights from the Mean Girls at Work author interview:   Take the high road approach even though we are designed to befriend.  Realize that you dont have to be friends with everyone you work with. It is more important to be friendLY and professional. Then, slowly earn their trust. Dont take things personally. Nothing is wrong with you.  You are just dealing with a competitive and jealous co-worker. Build alliances with people around you so that you dont have to react to the mean girls. You can instead ask for feedback informally with your alliance if anyone else has ever had a similar experience.  Find a mentor and talk it through with someone instead of counter attacking. Lets face it.we all gossip once in a while right?  Try a 30-day No Gossip Diet and pick a start date.  Zip your lips and walk away from the conversation.  Notice who the Gossip Girls are and if there are others you need to distance yourself from for these 30 days.  Gossip can really hurt your work reputation. Want to start taking action to get ahead in your career this year? Join our Love Your Career Formula 2.0 group and start taking control of your future today!

Get ready to wow employers with your holiday experiences

Get ready to wow employers with your holiday experiences Welcome to the new term. Today is day  2 at Warwick. It won’t be long before the long  holidays seem a distant memory as you grapple with academic work. Some of you will also be making job applications. Here are some thoughts on how to really impress your chosen employers. Identify and promote the  skills you developed  over the summer and the dream job will be one step closer. It’s a good idea to spare a bit of time now reflecting on what you did over the summer. If you leave it too long you will forget the details! If you’re at Warwick have a look at the Tell your story webpages. Other universities will have similar programs. Did you have an internship? Great, you’re obviously going to put this on your application forms. There are some traps to avoid: 1. Don’t just list what you did. “Observed”, “shadowed”, “sat in on…”, “accompanied”, “was exposed to…” are not words which convey an active learning experience! By all means tell employers (briefly)  what you watched,  but make sure you talk about your proactive networking and the development of skills like communication, analysis and team working. 2. Avoid the temptation to overplay the experience. Dont make it  sound as if you ran an multi-million pound organisation single handed for a few weeks. This won’t be credible and will cast doubt on everything else you say in the rest of your application. If youre applying for a job where integrity is of the utmost importance, it might even  mean the end of your hopes of appointment. Did you work in a shop or a bar? Don’t feel that this is not going to be valued by employers. It will be. You can demonstrate that all important strong work ethic and also a handful of other skills. You’re likely to have been an active member of a team, communicating effectively with customers. You might have had to demonstrate resilience in working long hours and in negotiating effectively to resolve disputes. Perhaps you marketed successful? Did you persuade customers to buy an extra bottle of wine, or two garments rather than one? Did you look at the way the business was being run and think of ways to improve things? Was there an opportunity to share your thinking with management? Maybe your suggestions lead to changes? Employers are always really impressed with those able to analyse the business in which they find themselves and improve it. These are just the people destined to become CEOs or senior partners. Perhaps you went travelling? Travelling usually tests your powers of organisation. You probably had to decide where and when to go, how much to spend, how long to stay and who to go with. You might have needed resilience, ability to re-plan quickly in the light of changing circumstances and good communication skills vital when you need to make yourself understood and don’t speak the local language! If you went with a group of people there might have been times when you had to negotiate what to do next, or referee disputes between friends. Theres a lot here you can “sell” successfully to employers. What if you stayed at home and didn’t work? Don’t despair of finding something constructive to say about your summer. You will have done some useful things. Did you spend any time caring for younger, older or infirm relations? This will have allowed you to develop your resilience, your communication and negotiating skills. What about charity work? Did you do some volunteering? Employers love this, it is another way to demonstrate your work ethic and to learn the same skills you pick up when you are in paid work. You might have done some odd jobs for family and friends, This could have involved some team working or  proactive analysis of how to do something. I hope that you will all have found something here which resonated with your summer holiday activity. You should never lie (or embellish the truth) on applications, but it is really important to look at what you have done and think what skills you got from it. If this post has also encouraged you to reflect on your experiences, great! Can you identify any gaps in experience which you can plug? The Volunteering Fair and Society’s Fair are coming up here in Warwick. Why not go along and see if you can find the perfect additional activity which you will enjoy while boosting your CV?