Holiday Party Planning: Less Risk Is More Fun

Edited by David Law

In planning your annual holiday party, have you considered your obligations as an employer? A company holiday party should be fun, but employers need to be careful about social host liability.

A "company party" is generally defined as any party that is:

• Hosted, organized and/or paid for by the employer;
• Held on company property;
• Held during normal working hours; or
• Seen to be facilitated or condoned by the employer;
• Any combination of the above.

If an event is deemed a "company party," the employer could be held liable if injury is caused to any party participant or a party participant harms an innocent third party (e.g. has an accident on the way home).  This is true even if no members of "management" are in attendance or it's not an official company party.