Can you force staff to have fun?
Can employers make their staff attend work socials? It's a deceptively simple issue that takes a bit of unpacking. Get a grip on the details with our article.
Forced fun in the workplace is a side of business life that can split opinion. Some say it's vital for fostering team spirit. Others see it as an irksome obligation that should be thrown on the scrap heap of history.
In the UK, the pandemic struck a blow against forced fun. Even after restrictions were lifted and socialising didn't have to be done over Zoom, companies overall still seemed reluctant to return to their pre-COVID ways.
That doesn't mean, however, that mandatory socialising doesn't still happen at work. But the question is: how mandatory is it, exactly? Can you force your staff to get involved?
In this article, we take a look at the situation in the UK before delving into a couple of cases from France and the USA.
So… can you?
The short answer is "no" – unless attendance is stipulated in the contract. The picture, however, is a bit more nuanced than that.
There's no statutory right to make an employee attend an out-of-hours social event. However, employers will often include a clause in their contracts which requires employees to be available for some out-of-hours activities. Social events may fall into this category.
In some sectors where teamwork is especially important, a case can be made for forced fun. But unless contractually obliged, an employee is free to attend or not attend as they see fit.
If you as an employer feel that an
employee's performance is suffering because of non-participation, you can of course raise it as an issue. But it would have to be an issue relating to performance, not to non-attendance in itself.
Naturally, if an employee is breaching their contract by not attending, you can raise it as a disciplinary matter.
What should employers consider before forcing staff to get involved?
When arranging work socials, you need to be mindful of your employees' needs. For instance, a person may not be able to attend for a reason relating to a protected characteristic – and can't legally be forced to do so.
This could be the case if a member of staff with a disability is invited to a social event that involves an inappropriate level of physical activity. Similarly, a person who doesn't drink alcohol on religious grounds isn't obliged to attend an event that involves drinking alcohol.
It's important to be mindful of these factors, partly out of respect and partly because failing to do so could lead to an accusation of discrimination and a tribunal case.
Finally, you need to be aware of any evening commitments that staff may have. This is especially important as staff members who are unavailable in the evenings will tend to be women and part-time staff with childcare duties.
A lot of this is common sense, but you'd be surprised at how often people err.
One solicitor, for instance, made a claim for disability discrimination after being told to go on an away day at a city farm. This is far from an isolated instance.
The main thing is to exercise tact and judgment and to listen when people raise objections. That way, you can get the best of both worlds: social activities that boost teamwork but don't exclude or alienate individual members of staff.
The case of Mr T
In
2015, a man referred to as Mr T was sacked from Cubik Partners, a Paris-based consultancy firm. Why? Because he refused to go to after-work drinks or team-building activities and was, in his employer's
words, "square and boring, difficult to work with and a poor listener".
He did so on moral grounds, accusing his employers of "excessive alcoholism" and "promiscuity". The court took his side, saying that Mr T was exercising his freedom of expression by not attending. He was awarded €3,000 in compensation.
There have been a couple of comparable cases in the UK. In 2022, Michael Brockie took legal action against PwC after he injured his head at a work social event that involved excessive drinking.
The same year, Atrium Underwriters were fined £1 million after a "boys' night out" involving "inappropriate initiation games and heavy drinking".
What ties these cases together is the law's insistence that you can't force staff to have fun – and that you should think twice about making the fun revolve around heavy drinking.
Can you force staff to be happy?
After-hours work drinks and team-building are one thing – but how about an employee's general demeanour? Can you discipline someone for being miserable?
In the UK, you can do so only if a person's attitude is affecting their performance – and even then, it's a big and potentially disputatious button to press.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
ruled in 2016 that an employer can't force you to be happy. This came in the wake of a conflict between T-Mobile and some of its employees who were sick of its coercively positive work environment.
The NLRB ruled that forced positivity amounted to a stifling of free speech, as well as having a chilling effect on attempts to address workplace issues.
Conclusion
Work socials can be great opportunities for team-building. But you need to be careful not to alienate employees through too much force – or discriminate against anyone who bows out because of a protected characteristic. Either case could land you in an employment tribunal – a sure way to soak up valuable time and energy.
If you do find yourself locked in a dispute relating to out-of-hours work socialising, legal advice can be invaluable. A good employment lawyer will lay out your options clearly and help you make an informed decision.
Do you need legal advice about an employment issue? At Milners Law, we have a crack team of
employment law solicitors who can talk you through your options.
Get in touch for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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