Dont be a party pay pooper

EMPLOYERS SHOULD ensure they don’t get too carried away at this year’s office Christmas party and offer pay rises to staff that in the cold light of day they may regret.

The warning from Russell Brown, employment solicitor at Manchester firm, Glaisyers, follows a recent case whereby an employee claimed for constructive dismissal as the pay rise he was offered at the end of a company’s annual dinner-dance, didn’t materialise.

Despite an Employment Appeals Tribunal upholding an employment tribunal’s earlier decision that the conversation between the Claimant and his manager at the office Christmas dance did not amount to an enforceable promise to increase pay, Brown believes bosses must still be on their guard.

In this particular case the EAT held that the original promise was not contractually enforceable, and was part of a conversation that took place within the context of a social event. There is also the fact that the individual did receive a pay rise of over 10,000, which though wasn’t the amount promised, did go someway towards softening the EAT’s view towards the case.

The office Christmas party is a potential banana skin for company bosses and have in recent years been the source of a large number of sexual discrimination claims. This is yet another danger that bosses need to be aware of and though the employer’s case for constructive dismissal was rejected here, employers should not only be on their best behaviour, but on their guard!