Christmas office parties with a diverse workforce

[mids2019]

Work forces have a diverse range of religions within the workforce. In my role I now see that there is maybe a little.questioning of how to frame the Christmas do as Christmas is a festival originated by Christians and so may feel a little exclusive given we do not have a departmental organised Eid or Divali celebration. Should the office Christmas do be reframed as the end of year party slightly divorced from Christmas as a celebratory period? (The office do also brings question of whether an alcohol fee venue may be appropriate which can get a bit contentious.)

We don't even want that pandering!

It's Christmas in the UK and that's when the bank holidays are. My company allows flexibility for other faiths to choose different days for themselves but the majority don't and take the time for family.

As for alcohol free venues we have "doing" activities so non drinkers can join in and the event isn't focussed on drinking. Having them completely alcohol free isn't fair on the majority of staff. That said it really depends on the make up of your organisation.

Attendance at most Christmas parties is not compulsory so people are free to opt out.

Christmas also brings us 2 bank Holidays. Do you also expect people to opt out of those too?

Christmas is a religious, but also cultural festival.

I approach this is just a goady post. But Christmas doesn’t need anyone to be involved in Christianity. Nor does it oblige people into Christianity.

besides which L, changing the name is actually the opposite of inclusive

I think you're over thinking this.

I work for an Asian company. I'd estimate two thirds of my colleagues are not Christian. We have a Christmas party.

I take your point but on the other hand do we as a country recognise maybe Christmas is celebrated in ways it wasn't over 50 years ago?

How do you mean "on the other hand"? I don't understand how that's the other hand to what I was saying.

Taking your 50 year timespan, almost nobody in any British workplace right now was attending any workplace Christmas parties before that. The vast majority of publicly-visible Christmas celebrations have been barely identifiable as linked to anything Christian for longer than most people can remember. Unless you choose to go to church services, it's what, the school Nativity play and Carols from Kings?

As for the rest of it, almost anyone can and does take part to a greater or lesser extent. I've never been Christian, but woke up on Christmas morning to presents from Father Christmas, eat a big roast every year, and go to Christmas parties. If I lived somewhere else, I might do different big meals and parties and gift-giving.

I suspect that in most ways, things were much the same fifty years ago, and are much the same in other many countries where there might be a stronger religious link to the big, cohesion-promoting public holidays — people who don't do the religious part or share some of the practices still like to join in with the culturally-sanctioned time of carnival/chaos/community/general celebration.

Okay, if "Christmas party" was at some point (or still is) a universal code for "everyone get pissed as fast as possible with a load of random people you didn't choose to spend your days with" then no, people with cultural or religious taboos about alcohol won't be able or willing to participate, I suppose, but then it doesn't really matter what you call it, it's still grim as fuck.

I was just trying to get you to imagine how it might feel to be on the other side of your question (in 2023).

I think as mentioned by others that, although a Christian festival, the actual festivities are more cultural than anything. I would agree it could be problematic if your celebration involved religious carol singing and prayers, but I don't think Xmas decorations, a nice meal and maybe drinks/dancing and secret santa gift giving is particularly religious or exclusionary!

Most of my friends of various different religious and cultural backgrounds celebrate Xmas, as do I and my fellow athiest/agnostic friends 😊

Are you just trying to rile people up
with the spectre of a generic wintermas?

Yawn.

I've worked in culturally diverse places and have never known anyone turn down a Christmas party because they're not Christian

Same. Also the people I work with would shrivel up with embarrassment if the Christmas party was cancelled or renamed on their behalf.

All you need to be mindful of is food choices and it not being too boozy.

Thank you for putting me right. My experience is very limited to two or three Jewish friends (all American) and they very much don't celebrate Christmas, and get very annoyed of anyone gives them a Christmas card. I once forgot that one of them was Jewish, and did so, and got a very pointed message back.

I'm glad to have my impression corrected. I really shouldn't have generalised from such a small sample.

As a Christian I'd think calling it winter party is preferable than saying it's Christian when it's not. I have no problem people celebrating but it niggles how god has been removed but it's still called Christmas.

My child's school in a religious education lesson said Santa was part of the Christmas tradition of Christianity. That is offensive.

Christmas is now a cultural tradition for most people. Which is completely fine. I just wish people stopped using christs name for it

I would have thought the people who would most object to a Christmas party would be the Calvinist Christians. You know Christmas was a normal working day in Scotland until the 50s or 60s? That's why Hogmanay and Burns Night are big events, if you're not allowed to celebrate religious events you find secular events to celebrate instead.

Anyway, the sensible approach to a diverse workforce is to offer a variety of celebrations. I work for a multinational organisation and my site has employees from ~50 different countries. We have alcohol free events during the working day celebrating different events throughout the year as well as evening events involving alcohol in the winter and summer.

We have quite a diverse workforce too and just do a Christmas night out like everyone else. It's basically just an opportunity to dress up and spend time together eating and drinking, we don't sit around singing carols or anything. Our Christmas parties tend to be pretty informal though so maybe it's different for some places.

Staff who don't drink alcohol just have soft drinks and no one pushes them or makes a big deal of it. Just choose a venue where everyone's dietary requirements are catered to as I think some people might feel a bit awkward asking.

If people opt out it's not a problem, there are plenty of others who just aren't keen on nights out in general which is totally fair enough. Attendance is not expected, it's just supposed to be fun.

Like more than half the population Im the UK I'm not a Christian. I celebrate Christmas and enjoy a Christmas party.

We're having an end of year work meal, organised by the head of the department who is not white and not Christian (so it's not a white saviour thing). He has picked the restaurant, which does not serve alcohol. Obviously if people want to go to the pub afterwards they are free to do so.

This type of thinking whips up more hate towards the minorities with ideas like this. It's virtue signalling by a mainly white but not always DEI/do gooder who is trying to be inclusive & #bekind but it has the opposite affect.

What would be more inclusive is to have in your policy a religious annual day off for those of other faiths. Have your Christmas party and those who do not want to join/drink simply won't. However, those who do will and a percentage of those will be those who don't celebrate Christmas. So you should continue with the Christmas party. For a tee total guest it's not hard to avoid alcohol if you're not drinking. You just don't order wine, it's that simple.

I do not celebrate Christmas nor do I drink, however I will attend the annual Christmas party. My colleagues expect me to attend as one of the last remaining sensible ones who will lift them off the floor when they've fallen over from drinking too much.

Please don't assume all of us who don't celebrate Christmas are offended by it. We're not and some of us actually believe in Jesus but not as the son of God. So go figure that one out, we're not all offended by Jesus and you can speak his name in front of us. Please don't make it any more complicated than it has to be.

My child's school in a religious education lesson said Santa was part of the Christmas tradition of Christianity.

But he is.

I mean, yeah, in a moderately distorted and slightly syncretic way, but that's traditions for you (and Christianity in general).

So you've never heard about St Nicholas? 'Santa' being the clue.

OP if you educate yourself a bit more you'll discover that Christmas was tacked on to the long existing winter festivals celebrated at the darkest time of the year. Mainly pagan and primarily to cheer everyone up and definitely not reverential.
In fact many, more 'lively' pre Christian rituals only disappeared with the Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell and his miserable take on Christmas. You wouldn't want us all to go back to that- would you?

@Longma which is why I wished not demanded. The OP was about the term for the Christmas/office party I'm just giving my view.

That's st Nicolas not 'Santa'. Modern day Santa teaches nothing about Christian values or history. And not all denominations of Christianity are into the saints.

St Nicholas brings chocolates in my native country at the beginning of December. Comes with angel and devil.
In some he is mainly at Christmas and in some you have Father frost who was alao apparently used as Ssanta Claus inspiration.

I celebrate Christmas. I am not Christian. I don't like socialising and would rather stay at home on a cold Saturday night, with family rather than colleagues. I don't really drink. So that's what I do. There's no pressure to attend and if there is, staff should be paid their normal work wage to attend.

This is a Christian country OP! Have you ever wondered why there's no big hype over the John Lewis Divali advert? Because even those who aren't Christian tend to derive some value from Christmas. It's a time for celebration, in whatever form you choose to do it.

As for alcohol free venues, just no. Unfortunately for those who don't like alcohol/are alcoholics trying to avoid drinking(myself included), most people like to enjoy a drink or two to celebrate.

I would go with a Christmas party - or if you want to take the "Christ" out, then call it Yuletide

Have a do where both alcohol and a good range of (not over-priced) soft drinks are served.

And lobby for gatherings to mark other celebrations possibly better coming from members of the religion which adhere, but you could so the seed and then be vocal in support.

However, before going don that route, pause and consider that the most major festival of the Christian calendar - Easter - isn't being celebrated. So the religious aspect might be less than you think, and the secular aspects of Christmas fine for nearly everyone

(Do also remember that some branches of Hinduism include Jesus in their iconography, as it can be very assimilative, and that Jesus pbuh is a major Muslim prophet, and veneration, short of worship as divine, is fine)