The office Christmas party is ready to go. Silly hats? Check. Refreshments? Check. Mobile phones? No, not welcome.
People who use their smartphones to record hijinks or misbehaviour at the office Christmas party and exchange or upload footage to social media sites could find themselves out of a job or even facing legal action from angry colleagues.
People need to be more aware of the potential legal issues relating to Christmas party hijinks broadcasted to the world on social media. These days everyone seems to have their mobiles ready to capture every incident they see and then uploading almost instantly to social media platforms like Instagram.
The traditional view that anything that happens at the work Christmas party remains in-house means little when everyone has a mobile with a camera. The risk of someone uploading for all the world to see “highlights” to public content sites like Facebook, Instagram or YouTube is very real.
Employers need to have strategies in place to best ensure a safe and enjoyable party that will not have unfortunate repercussions. Leaving aside important workplace health and safety issues associated with work functions – which are very important – employers should be mindful to have protocols and systems in place to avoid embarrassment or disputes and ensure staff understand that a work-organised and funded Christmas event is covered by workplace laws.
The general rule is that if the boss is paying for it then it’s a work event, and employers should have a detailed social-media usage policy that applies to all staff to clearly set out how their staff can and can’t use social media in connection with work.
An employer might also be held accountable for uploaded material if an aggrieved employee successfully claims that their employer failed to prevent something that happened at a workplace event from being shown or published to others, resulting in embarrassment, ridicule or distress.
Employers would be entitled to take disciplinary action and even terminate employees if there is a breach of the social-media usage policy.
To avoid things going pear-shaped, employers should educate staff on the risks they expose themselves and others too by filming and broadcasting material. For employees, I would suggest leaving your mobile switched off in your pocket or bag to make everyone’s end of year function a bit more enjoyable and avoid recriminations later.
Michael Coates, Employment and Litigation Expert, Bennett & Philp Lawyers
