An Aussie business has come under fire after asking to dock staff’s pay to fund the work Christmas party. A workplace expert told Yahoo Finance the request was definitely “unusual”, while others slammed the move as “downright insulting”.
An Aussie worker sparked debate online after sharing their workplace was asking staff to pay for the upcoming Christmas party. The worker questioned whether this was “normal in big companies”, having previously worked in small businesses where staff were expected to pay their own way.
“I’ve never encountered this before, but my new workplace (that just made 500 million this financial year) is asking employees to have money taken out of their pay, to pay for the work Christmas party…” the worker wrote.
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“They also encourage people to bring their partners, but surely if they can’t afford a party, then maybe just stick with your actual staff?”
Hundreds of people responded to the worker’s post, with many telling them this was “not normal” for corporates and some urging the worker not to attend the party at all.
“Not just weird but downright insulting. Work pays for the office party,” one person wrote.
“I’m honestly absolutely appalled on your behalf. I’d probably run that up to HR as a formal complaint personally….,” another added.
“Any big corporate party I’ve ever been to has been free for staff. Smaller business events have also been free, and sometimes partners included too,” a third said.
“What a joke,” another said.
Workplace expert weighs in
Workplace culture and leadership expert Tammy Tansley agreed the business’ request was not normal for corporations, but noted government and public service did require people to pay for their own Christmas parties.
“It’s pretty unusual for the main company Christmas party to be paid for by employees. Usually, that’s something the company puts on and funds,” Tansley told Yahoo Finance.
Tansley questioned whether there was a financial issue at play, or whether the company was “trying to distance themselves from the event in terms of any liability for things that might happen”.
“Drunken behaviour, harassment/assault, stupidity leading to Monday morning regrets,” Tansley said.
“[But] they might struggle to argue it’s not a company event if they aren’t actually paying for it.”
Tansley said the type of Christmas party event could also factor into the appropriateness.
“Sometimes if it is a family event – the company might subsidise the tickets or the food/catering and there may still be an expectation that employees contribute in some way,” she said.
“Smaller team parties/celebrations/lunches might be a pay-as-you-go type deal, though, as there are often multiple celebrations during the Christmas period, and it’s probably not realistic or reasonable to ask the company to fund them all.”
Can your boss force you to attend the work Christmas party?
In the comments, the original poster noted they didn’t have to agree to the Christmas party request.
“It’s not compulsory, but there is definitely an unsaid push for everyone to go. For some reason I seem to be the only one who thinks this is weird too, everyone else I’ve spoken to doesn’t care,” the worker wrote.
Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Giri Sivaraman said bosses can’t legally force you to attend a work Christmas party.
“Any direction by a boss needs to be lawful and reasonable,” he told Yahoo Finance.
“Mandating a worker attend an out-of-hours Xmas party would be unreasonable because it intrudes on the workers personal time, and [is] unnecessary to progress the business in any way.”
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