Q. "Are there liability issues when serving alcohol at staff holiday events?"
Answer:
Yes, there are liability issues when serving alcohol at any work-related event. Attendants might drink too much and cause an accident, engage in behavior that could violate your harassment policy, or minors present who could mistakenly be served alcohol.
There are ways you can reduce liability:
Set expectations around respectful behavior. Remind employees of organizational policies, including harassment policies and your Staff Lifestyle Agreement.
Make the event clearly optional. Make sure managers and supervisors do not imply that failure to attend counts against the employee in any way.
Separate the event from the workplace: hold it off-site, outside of office hours, conduct no work-related activities, and allow employees to bring a guest.
Hire professional servers (or hold the event at a staffed facility) who will, as part of their job, politely refuse to serve anyone who they perceive has had enough to drink.
Host a cash bar or limit drinks per person. This will reduce the likelihood of a claim that the employer provided alcohol directly to employees.
Plan for how employees who have been drinking will get home by providing taxis or group transportation.
Please remember that while these steps can help reduce liability, they will not completely eliminate risk. Some organizations find it easier to simply plan events that do not involve alcohol.