Opinion: as Boris Johnson and the UK government are finding out, drinking in the workplace comes with many dangers and costs
While the rest of the UK was in strict lockdown, the prime minister's 10 Downing Street office was more like a party house. Tales now abound of staffers heading to the local off-license to fill a suitcase with wine for clandestine parties in the backyard. At the rate revelations are coming out, Boris Johnson will soon have to apply for a pub licence for his residence.
Office drinking and the office party has long been a staple theme of television and movies. The show Mad Men sometimes seemed like one long commercial for Bourbon, but this depiction of a drink-centered work culture in the 1960s seems fairly accurate. The three-Martini lunch was a staple of the advertising industry in the 1960s and 1970s, and this tradition has not entirely disappeared; the famous New Orleans restaurant Commander's Palace still offers a 25-cent Martini with lunch. In 2016's Office Christmas Party, boozed-up colleagues have a series of misadventures that cause some embarrassment, but that do no lasting harm.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, Kevin Maguire from The Daily Mirror on the latest about the Downing Street parties
But the reality is not always quite so funny, and occasionally, far from harmless. The dangers and costs of drinking in the workplace are well-known. Drinking at work is an important cause of accidents and it can have substantial effects on productivity and health care costs. We all know that drinking during the workday can be harmful, but what is so bad about the occasional work party?
But social events in the workplace can create considerable ambiguity, and ambiguity and alcohol do not mix well. In the workplace, there are often clear rules and clear hierarchies, making it easier for people to know how they should behave. At an office party, rules are not so clear, and they are apt to become foggier as the night goes on.
There are many websites offering advice about how to behave at an office party, and their advice gives a window into what can go wrong: don’t drink too much, don’t treat the office party like a bar; don’t flirt or act in a sexually provocative manner; don’t tell off-colour jokes; keep your guard up. One reason why this sort of advice is important is that we are all going back to work the day after the party. It might be very embarrassing for all parties to run into the manager you insulted or the junior employee you flirted with the next day.
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From RTÉ Archives, Frank Hall reports for Newsbeat in 1968 on how to plan an office party
Sexual harassment at alcohol-fueled office events, on or off-site, is depressingly common, and it can have serious consequences for the victim, the perpetrator and the organisation. If you Google "sexual harassment at workplace parties", you will quickly see that there is only one group that benefits from roving hands at a workplace party and that's lawyers. In the US where lawsuits are a national sport, there are even insurance companies that sell policies designed largely to shelter companies from liability if managers get too frisky at office parties.
It is easy for office parties to get out of hand, and tales of excess can harm a company’s reputation. In 1787, George Washington held a farewell to his troops in Philadelphia’s City Tavern. The 55 guests consumed 50 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 22 bottles of porter, 12 bottles of beer, 8 bottles of hard cider and 8 bottles of whiskey, washed down by seven bowls of spiked punch. Washington's reputation survived (it helps if you just won the Revolutionary War), but yours might not if your bar bill is still being talked about 200 years from now.
Does this mean you should never join a co-worker for a pint after work? No, but It does mean that you should think carefully about large alcohol-fueled gatherings in the workplace and be smart if you continue to have them. Manage the flow of alcohol, serve food, remind people that organisational policies about bullying, harassment and the like still apply, and stop serving alcohol well before the end of the party. Better yet, skip the party and just go to the pub with a friend or two for a pint.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
