By Dan Raker (LEG), Senior Attorney, and Darryl Howe (HRS), Manager Employee and Labor Relations
The holiday season is here and for many parts of our organization, it is also time to have some fun with co-workers at the annual year-end holiday party. Holiday parties are great opportunities for celebration, team-building and fellowship. Please remember, however, that holiday parties are a work function. With this in mind, here are a few important tips to keep the celebration as merry and safe as possible:
- Be inclusive in your holiday celebration. The party may not have a religious theme – all employees are welcome regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. Although all employees within the particular group should be invited to the celebration, employees should not be required to attend any particular party.
- As a work-related event, the same respectful workplace rules that apply to interactions at work are in effect at the holiday party. If conduct is not appropriate in regular workplace interactions, it is not appropriate at the holiday celebration. This includes sexually explicit comments and unwelcome sexual advances. Any employee who experiences or observes conduct at a holiday celebration that is inappropriate and may violate laboratory policy should report that behavior to HRS-Employee Relations. Likewise, any Argonne manager who observes misconduct should immediately act to stop it and report it to HRS-Employee Relations. Any report of misconduct will be taken seriously and investigated in accordance with Argonne’s procedures.
- Although there is no prohibition on alcohol at off-site Argonne events, please limit alcohol consumption as much as possible. The more alcohol consumed at an event, the higher the risk that an employee will engage in unsafe conduct or say or do something that they may later regret.
We hope that these tips give everyone in the Argonne community an opportunity to understand expectations prior to the holiday celebrations so that your events can be as merry and safe as possible.