AIBU to think that £70 p/p is a lot for a works Christmas Party?

[PineWoodChicken]

It’s that time of year again and my family has found this year tough like so many others. I manage a clerical team within a much larger public sector industry and the Christmas Party talk started today but by all accounts we are late!
The minimum price per head is coming in at £70 with others way over £100.

I’m struggling to justify the expenditure but as a “manager” I feel it’s my duty to go. That money would pay for our Christmas lunch if not more. Everyone else seems ok with it so I’m also embarrassed- AIBU to think this is too much?

Ah, so you have never worked for the police or NHS then? Appaloosa2000

Sounds too much to me.

Or schools, or charities, or Local Authorities, or the Prison service or the fire service, or any council, and probably many, many more employers.

The 3 course meal Christmas menus seem to be £30-40 here whereas the evening party packages (with dj) are £75+ without wine. That said if you search a few are doing cheaper meals at lunchtime

Public sector here too. Our small teams within a bigger site team organise their own Christmas nights out. I've veto'ed ours because half the team want to go to the nearest city for ice skating and drinks. So £20-£30 for the train, £15 skating, and the venue chosen for food and drink is a £30 deposit with expectations to spend more.
So expensive, and the strong possibility someone will end up on crutches over Christmas.

This is not true lol

The £150 limit is the amount an employer can provide without having to treat it as a taxable benefit in kind. Higher amounts get treated like a form of extra pay for staff, and are taxed accordingly.

Freshrain
Sorry I typed that in a hurry and just mentioned the public services that I personally have worked for. You are of course right.

I've had people suggest to me I could "pay in installments" for a meal or Christmas party, when I've said in the past it isn't in my budget, and I've pointed out to them that it still costs £70 however you pay it.

I've pointed out that I had the £70 in my bank account at that moment, BUT, I have that money there because I didn't accept invitations to spend £70 on a meal that (at the time) I could get for £25 - £30 elsewhere.

The point is, some people prioritise a night out with their colleagues, and other people don't. Having the money in your account doesn't mean you want to spend it on a night out with colleagues.

Where i work:
Theres a whole of office party in the building.. our employer pays for food/drink, music etc.

Teams organise lunches for their own teams but usually senior staff will pool funds to pay for everyone. Secretaries/trainees/juniors never pay.

I wouldn’t pay that!

I wouldn't spend that much on a night out with my friends, never mind colleagues!!

@PineWoodChicken - you could look at it as 'leading by example' or "being brave enough" to say that personally you won't be going as that's out of your budget, but are happy to arrange it if people want to go.

Just put it out there that you've done some research and the "party night bookings are coming in at £70, £100, and £120 (or whatever you have found) which you are happy to book for the team if that's what people want to do, but people must come up with the money by the day after pay day OR you've found a pub / local restaurant meal for £38 ph (or whatever you find) which will obviously be a different sort of event OR you could all go out for a meal after January payday, when there will no doubt be offers from the hospitality industry. Please let me know what you think before Monday"

We have nearly 70 people going this year, more than we ever had for £30 set dinners where some people who could afford to went for drinks after. The all inclusive package Christmas do isn't actually my preference but I can afford a night out without putting money aside each month, so was led by those who want to go but might find it more difficult to fund as a one off. I also think it's very nice of someone to organise it all and collect and track all of the money

Thats been the cost of ours for the last few years (Public sector) They usually offer installments starting really early in the year to make it as accessible as possible.

I must admit i do miss a good corporate xmas party where the venue is posh and the food and drink paid for.

Fuck that, I’m pretty antisocial too so I’d be voicing this lie, the plague 🤣

I thought she was the manager and didn’t like the idea of paying it out of the company money and felt it was wrong.

Why would anyone pay to attend their own Christmas Party? If someone wants me at their party, they better pay me to go.

Sometimes staff prefer the manager not to go is another way of looking at it so they can let their hair down without the boss watching

I would not go and I would be honest, sorry can’t afford that I have a family to support

Crikey, we are going to Franco Manca, two courses and a drink for £25. The young ones will go to the pub afterwards. Am honorary attendee now because retired.

I wouldn't go. I've had to pay for myself for Christmas parties in the past and it stings.

My work pays now, but I'm not a huge drinker (I don't actually drink at all apart from the odd prosecco at Christmas) and drinks are all that's offered (never food) - and I have to travel all the way down the country to London at my own expense, which can cost £400 return, and that's before a hotel room if I want to stay overnight. Yet, senior execs who live in London get their hotel rooms paid for, when they could easily get home.

Do what makes you comfortable op.

agree. the tones of utter bafflement are bizarre!

You absolutely don't have to go if you don't want to OP. I wouldn't feel guilty, your team might let their hair down more if you weren't there anyway!

I would say though that it's not that bad a price, depending on the venue and what's included. We had a vote at my (also PS) place earlier this year, because the last few years the attempts to find somewhere that everyone could afford meant that anything under the £40 was pretty rubbish, particularly at peak time (friday afternoon in dec) in the city centre. Obviously if you're willing to go lunchtime or somewhere out of town you might be able to get something decent. But overall most voted for spending a bit more to go somewhere nice.

Ironically it was the lowest paid staff who were pushing for the higher spend, and who always go nuts getting the shots in on the night!

Maybe go every other year if it's going to be more expensive.

In my last NHS department, we had one madly expensive flashy Xmas night out for those that wanted to pay out on it, and a shared buffet lunch for those of us with mortgages and kids. Everyone was free to attend any/both or not without judgement.

well, it would be weirder to pay to attend someone else's christmas party? 😕

do you always expect other people to cover you whenever you go out? If you're drinking the drink and eating the food why on earth should anyone else be paying for it?

I don't get this self-aggrandizing superiority over work events. Go or don't go, who cares, but if you generally wander round acting as if you're too busy and interesting to deign to spend an afternoon with your colleagues once a year they probably won't be exactly devastated if you don't attend!

£70 is a lot, but I've shopped around and it's hard to find anything under £40 when with early bird discount. I'm heading of the team so the etiquette is I pay for everyone's drinks but I'm not loaded and finances are tight at Christmas time. I do think people who work for the private sector take expenses etc for granted sometimes. Often it's our pension funds paying for these but somehow the daily mail is less outraged by that.