Christmas Work Parties

[Hoolahoophop]

Just wondering what expectations are?

Does your company pay for a works party?
Are you expected to pay yourself?

Previously we have had an office party - they put on some hot and cold buffet snacks and cold drinks (no alcohol we all drive) and a meal at a local restaurant partners included all paid for.

Is this usual?

Last year they offered a more 'team building' experience (bowling) couple of games paid for and snacks, some people went on for dinner together after but this was not paid for. - seemed a bit tight to me compared with previous years.

Just wondering what the norm was.

Thanks.

Our work doesn’t contribute a penny, but we are civil service. Usually managers might buy a round of drinks, because it’s expected (even if said manager is a single income household and earns less than they do).

Public sector so absolutely zero. Quite rightly Education budget should not be spent on parties.

Public sector, likewise no contribution. Have time for one usually a couple of weeks beforehand.

Public sector here so we get nothing. Before covid a large group of us used to 'bring a plate' & we all took an hour lunch & did a huge delicious buffet 😋 It was the highlight of the year!

Tech sector, private company, so standard allowance of £100 per employee so they can pay a bit less tax. Includes food, drinks, etc. and everyone gets their £1000 Christmas bonus.

Black tie sit down dinner and drinks paid for.
Regional offices have drinks and canapés and a DJ paid for. Financial services always has been generous Xmas party wise but definitely restricts the volume of alcohol more than previously.

I've always worked in public sector/charities so always paid for my own. DH has worked for private sector and his are paid for.

Ours is subsided by the company. Normally at a hotel and £10 or £15 a ticket for a welcome drink, meal and then a DJ afterwards. It's normally quite a nice evening to be honest!

Private sector here and we all get our party, meal, drinks all night and taxis/hotel paid for! (Very lucky! Im a receptionist btw)

My 2 previous jobs were the same, paid meal but had to pay own drinks and transport.

Love Christmas parties:) everything is paid for, travel incl.

We're going out for a meal, then to karaoke, then clubbing, and my boss has paid for my hotel.

An office buffet with beverages sounds like the saddest thing ever.

I really disliked our christmas parties.

Ex lawyer in a private high street firm. Party was on a saturday night. Everyone expected to attend. £30 a head for a pre-booked meal you had to pay for. Some of our staff were on minimum wage. If you did not go you were then seen as not part of the team and were bullied out. It was all highly political. I made sure I went and smiled and drove various colleagues so they could drink.I quietly subbed the receptionist who was a single mother caring for her 11 year old and very disabled mother with dementia.

It was all a fucking performative shit show.

We own our own business and we always pay for a Christmas event, meal or evening out. Everyone gets a gift too, experience vouchers last year or hampers. In addition we have a buffet lunch in the office too during the week before Xmas. We do meals out throughout the year too, once every couple of months. No staff contribution. There are 11 of us in a financial services company.

What seems to work at my place is a 3pm finish on a Friday to a local restaurant/pub for a christmas meal (paid for by company & normally a drink or two)
Then normally 50% of people will go home and 50% will continue on to other local pubs for a couple more drinks.

It normally ends up being a really fun evening!

My current company has a generous budget for team Christmas dinners, so we usually do a night out consisting of an activity with drinks and food all included. The firm then also puts on a company wide party with food, drink and DJ at a nice venue.

Where I used to work had a budget of £15 per person so it was usually just a long lunch.

🤣

I'm very lucky in that we usually go out for a nice dinner with everything paid for (including the taxi's) for us + partner. However there is only 3 of us in the company

I have always worked in the public sector so have never had any sort of meal or party paid for. We don't even get milk or teabags provided.

Harsh! We get tea, coffee, sugar, fruit teas, coffee machine, squash. Sometimes the odd biscuit!

Private sector here work for a global pharmaceutical company. We get all Christmas parties and team events everything paid for…100% free. We get free tea and coffee every day as much as we want and also still and sparkling water. Our canteen is heavily subsidised.

I think it depends what sector you work in. At ours (nationwide company, private sector) each location office gets theirs fully paid for.
Ours is on a working day (so effectively a day off)
Train travel to different city, an activity (eg darts, axe throwing) with drinks and nibbles, meal out, evening drinks, booth in a late night bar, hotel stay, train back.
All paid for, including all travel and drinks.
I'm not going as I'm in a proper funk about work atm. BUT. It's a good night out.

Prior to Covid my company (large insurer) used to throw an extravagant themed bash in each of their locations a couple of Saturdays before Christmas. A company came in with props and decorations to set the theme and there’d be ‘actors’ milling around to add to the effect. Unlimited free bar all evening and a generous buffet, disco until midnight and then coaches laid on to take people into town to carry on partying. It was a very, very good night with a huge budget. Since covid it’s been reduced to a party in a local cocktail bar after work on a Friday, on a much lower budget, think one free drink on entry. I miss the old events. I don’t bother with it anymore. The Christmas bonus & staff present has vanished too.

@GrumpyCactus no it wasn't a private school, it was a massively disadvantaged school although part of a MAT.

I assume they had some sort of staff welfare budget they preferred to use at the end of each term + probably some contribution by SLT, we always had donuts / fruit platters on a Friday too, a free hit drinks machine and tea, coffee, milk provided. I'm not talking about a silver service meal at the end of term, at Christmas the meal was normally in the canteen and provided by our kitchen staff, Easter was a small buffet in the staff room with prosecco, fruit juice or fizzy, in the summer a BBQ on the field.

Either way it was a pretty toxic workplace once a new head took over and most people have left now.

I work in a public sector job, where people often cry when they're with me. I have to supply my own tissues!

My employer has a shit cold lunch buffet (sad sandwiches, Lidl juice boxes) in the meeting room with sad Christmas themed activities such as a Christmas quiz and Christmas card crafting competition. It was alright in the sense it was over by mid afternoon and I could go home and no cost to me - just sad!

We have a family business and Dh takes everyone away for a night, activity during the day, meal out, drinks, hotel, breakfast and transport all paid for. Now honestly, I’d hate that (I don’t go because someone needs to home with dc and animals), but everyone seems to enjoy it and it’s no cost to anyone to attend (and they don’t have to if they really don’t want to). It’s an important way to say thank you though for a year of hard work.