1 in 10 UK employees have been fired following on from a work Christmas party

A study initiated by AfterDrink has found that a surprising 1 in 10 UK workers have been fired or disciplined following on from a work Christmas party. The reasoning behind these range from being involved in a fight, doing drugs, performing inappropriate behaviour, or having sex, in addition to this, a further 8% felt like that had to leave their job after a Christmas party as they no longer feel like they could face working with their former colleagues.

Commenting on the findings of the study Pedram Kordrostami, Founder of www.AfterDrink.com said: “Christmas work parties are well known for heavy drinking and doing embarrassing things in front of colleagues. It’s important to pace yourself when drinking, especially at work parties, where the results of being too drunk can have serious consequences beyond just dented pride.”

It does seem as if due to the festive period, and the rewards that come along with the season, a significant amount of employees seem to be encouraged to drink more than they initially plan, with 65% of those polled revealed that they had got too drunk at a Christmas party, and 45% had embarrassed themselves in front of their managers. Initially, all participants were asked if they had got drunk at a work Christmas do, and 89% revealed that they had.

When the participants of this survey were asked the reasons behind their dismissal or disciplinary, the most popular reason was saying something inappropriate about or to their managers at 23%, the second reason was getting into a verbal or physical fight with their college or boss, and this was being caught with illegal substances at 16%. In addition to these surprising statistics, 4% of these respondents mention that they were disciplined or dismissed for throwing up on their managers.

Although in this season, Christmas parties prove to be the perfect opportunity for employers to reward their workforce for all their hard work throughout the year, it is important for UK workers to stay sensible to a certain level when attending these events. We could also potentially be seeing a shift in favour of Christmas parties, with a report by Perkbox revealing that 23% of UK workers saying that they’d prefer a meal out with their immediate team. A team meal out was proved to be the most popular alternative to the Christmas party, across all the age groups. So this could be a potential alternative option if these statistics of a large number of employees being abusive through these parties continue to worsen in the future.

A study was undertaken by the team behind the hangover supplement www.AfterDrink.com, in which 2,194 people aged 18 or over were polled. All respondents disclosed that they have previously attended at least one work Christmas party.