Work Christmas do

[Sparklesandspandexgallore]

Hi,

Just thought I’d start a conversation about how others feel about their work’s Christmas do.
I won’t be going to mine- again.
Reasons:

1. there is zero employer contribution. All employees pay for absolutely everything themselves.
2. It falls on my birthday weekend so I’ve made plans to do something else.
3. my work bestie refuses to go.
4. I’m not close enough to those that go to warrant spending £££ on an evening out with them.
5. the last one I attend, I ended up having to sit next to a new employee whom I had never met. It was ok but bearing in mind I had to pay for the entire evening, I did feel miffed that I couldn’t sit on the same table where my closest work colleagues were seated.

How dues anyone else feel?
I imagine if the event us free it makes a difference.

Ours are paid for but I've never been. Work "do's" have never appealed to me so, unless I'm being paid to attend, I don't bother with any of it.

This is the first time I’ve ever had to pay for a Christmas day to be honest with you. I’m going because if I don’t go some people that I do like will be stuck with a load of losers so I’m almost the entertainment 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

we always pay for ours-teachers. I find it unusual you get if free.

I won’t be going. For too many years I have gone under duress thinking that if I don’t go it will somehow reflect poorly on me however I no longer however it is always the same cliques of people who go, and plenty of people don’t go and still do well so I am bowing out. Here are my reasons:

• Public Sector so have to pay for myself - I resent the spend so close to Xmas
• Small team in very big team wfh meaning I know some people very well and most people barely at all
• The people who go tend to all be in a clique of people who like such things and I always feel uncomfortable
• They are always far away from wear I live as everyone lives very spread out, and we have no train station which means I either have to drive and not drink, or I can ask my husband to pick me up but I get car sick when I have been drinking so I probably wouldn’t anyway and then have to suffer people asking why I’m not drinking and making me feel like a party pooper
• It’s such a busy time of year seeing people I actually want to see let alone people from work.

I feel so much better for having made the decision that I’m just going to be “one of those people” who don’t go to the Xmas party. I am also never participating in a secret Santa again and opting out of buying everyone I see in the run up to Xmas a Yankee candle or equivalent for some sake of a performance. I will bake some bits this year and bring it along for people where there is a social obligation.

Life is too short to spend all that money on people or things you don’t want to.

I work in Art Events so I've seen women in spangly gowns & men in black tie all year round.

My other job, we are expected to pay for ourselves and it is £65 this year (previous year someone came up with hotel dinner dance for £85) and as I have IBS that could be too much money to spend for what could be an evening on a toilet.

I will go to the main drinks & buffet Xmas event (which is free). I love to drink!

I do think Staff Xmas events should be free as a way of saying thank you.

I haven’t been to mine for over 10 years and have no plans to attend a Christmas work do again.

I dont go, in my working sector there is too much drug taking and affairs that go on at these types of nights out totally not my scene. I do tend to do some sort of dinner thing with my close colleagues though

Banking sector here. Our company party is fully paid, drinks, 3 course sit-down meal and dancing. It's a lot of fun and normally everyone comes unless you really are away or have other committments.

We also get an allowance for a team meal and an annual one for socialising. We normally throw both amounts together and do a show or activity

One of the best things about retirement is avoiding work Christmas do’s. There would be a group that would always suggest a drinks tab and then divide the cost between us all. They would then order multiple alcoholic drinks. Myself and another co worker would just be happy with a Diet Coke as we don’t enjoy alcohol and we were driving. We were then expected to chip in for their expensive drinks. The last time we went I just said that myself and the other worker were getting our own drinks and that didn’t go down well. I just hated the works do.

My works Christmas do is my absolute favourite day/night out of the year. We do pay our own way but we get the day off and don’t need to use a. Yak leave entitlement. The best thing about my workplace is we are all genuinely really good friends so we always have such a great time together

My current employer doesn't organise a work one (family-run business and their religion doesn't do Christmas), but I belong to a large hobby group and they are having one. The organisers have chosen a venue quite a long way from where I live and it costs an arm and a leg, so I have happily chosen to decline.

I’m self-employed so don’t need to deal with any of this bollocks anymore 🤣

I like some of my work colleagues and like having a social evening with them so I would always go, but I am strategic about where I sit

I hate the inequality in a number of companies I've worked for.

Permanent staff get a paid do, temps or those who have just joined the company have to pay for theirs, assuming they are allowed to attend at all.

And those "unsociable" types who "don't want to make a team effort" by refusing to go get to work the late shift so the partiers can go home early to glam up.

Because they don’t have the money? School budgets are horrendous right now - over 80% of it goes on staff costs already and the rest of it has to be paid for out of the other not quite 20%. Budgets have not increased in the face of increasing utility costs and the cost of resources going through the roof. Then, to add insult to injury, the govt decided they would only fund 3 of the 4% pay rise awarded with the other 1% to come from the school finding mythical efficiencies and they have no way of increasing their income apart from filling a school.
So no, schools can’t afford to pay for social events for staff. The staff understand that.

Haven’t done a proper Christmas do in years, as I’ve WFH since 2011 and my team before that was an odd mix.

My current employer is fully remote so nobody lives within at least 2.5 hours of another member of staff, which means it’s impossible to arrange such things. Plus we are a charity.

DS works for a multinational and they often arrange their own socials but last year, they were invited out to a meal by senior managers who paid.

I think you’ve got several good reasons not to go OP!

I work in a school so ours is not paid for. Also I prefer not to socialise with colleagues as I have plenty of friends outside work! They do a school Christmas lunch and Xmas jumper day during the last week of term and our small team does secret Santa, so I join in enthusiastically with those and that’s enough for me.

Never been to one. I am so worried I might drink too much, to hide my awkwardness, and make an embarrassment of myself in front of my colleagues.
I prefer to stay mysterious.

Usually go but they aren't great in recent years. just a meal and most go home as soon as it's finished. This year I'm not so interested. Atmosphere isn't great these days. I'd rather just go out for a meal with a select few but will see. We usually gey £10 towards the meal and pay the rest ourselves.

I’ve only used to attend if they were proper sit down meals and paid for and then I’d leave shortly after the meal was over.

Definitely never drink booze at these things either!

I would go if its somewhere I liked. But no way I am paying money for a precooked and just plated up roast dinner. I hate roast dinners at the best of times.

I’m 46 and have never worked in any sector where this might be paid for. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I’ve been on an “official” works do. I was once told I had to and when I said it wasn’t in my contract that I spend my own money to sit in a restaurant eating a very overpriced meal in my own time, they conceded they really needed to leave me alone.

I am not generally a work-to-rule arsehole but I will not be told how to spend my free time or my money for that matter!

I sometimes go but leave before people get embarrassingly drunk

I work for a university. We’re completely skint to the point we’re making redundancies and cutting services to students. Not only can we not afford a staff party for over 3000 employees, the optics wouldn’t look good.

Student would be (rightly) outraged at us spending their fees on a Christmas party.

That's harsh.

Our company one is for everyone, interns, temps, on probation and permanent.

For the team allowance: interns don't get one but each team just clubs together and we make sure we pay for their portion.