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Groton Daily Independent
Monday, Dec. 04, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 148 ~ 38 of 43
the highest number in the decade the rm has run its survey. The number had been going up each year as the economy improved.
“As soon as you introduce alcohol at an off-site activity, peoples’ guards are dropped,” said Ed Yost, manager of employee relations and development for the Society for Human Resource Management based in Alexandria, Virginia. “It’s presumed to be a less formal, more social environment. Some people will drink more than they typically would on a Friday night or a Saturday because it’s an open bar or a free cocktail hour.”
The Huf ngton Post reported Friday that Vox Media, which runs sites including Vox and Recode, won’t have an open bar this year at its holiday party and will instead give employees two tickets they can redeem for drinks. It will also have more food than in years past. The company recently red its editorial director, Lockhart Steele, after a former employee made allegations of sexual harassment against him.
A survey by Bloomberg Law said those kinds of safeguards are common: while most companies ask bartenders or security or even some employees to keep an eye on how much partygoers are drinking, others limit the number of free drinks or the time they’re available. A small minority have cash bars instead of an open bar.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses recommends all of those steps, and adds another that might seem obvious these days: don’t hang mistletoe. It’s been giving those suggestions for several years.
Yost said he always gets a lot of requests for advice in planning and managing these events, but he’s getting even more of them this year. He said he’ll be spending his corporate holiday party the way he always does: patrolling hallways, checking secluded areas and trying to watch for people who look like they are stuck in an uncomfortable situation — for example, inappropriate touching or a conversation that’s taken a bad turn. If they’re visibly uncomfortable, he’ll intervene and plan a later conversation with the person responsible.
The Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey shows that about 80 percent of companies will have a holiday party, the same as last year. And not everyone is planning changes.
Anthony Vitiello, the marketing director for software company Anton Robb Group, said he planned his company’s event and didn’t rethink it. For the last few years the rm’s has marked the holiday with drinks and passed hors d’oeuvres in the wide cellar of a local restaurant. Vitiello thinks the formal setting makes the event calmer.
“We haven’t had any incidents, not a single one I can recall, where anyone got loud or over-consumed,” he said. He added that many of his company’s 25 employees go out for drinks once a month, and he’s not aware of any cases of misconduct.
Yost said he’s not making changes to his group’s event either. He added that companies concerned about sexual misconduct need to look further than the holiday party.
“While there are additional complications that are associated with a holiday event, that’s one day a year,” he said.
Supreme Court taking up sports betting case By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a case that could make sports betting widely available.
The case the justices are hearing Monday is a result of New Jersey’s yearslong effort to bring betting on sports to its casinos and racetracks. New Jersey is challenging a federal law that bars states from au- thorizing sports gambling. If the Supreme Court strikes down the law, giving sports betting the go-ahead, 32 states would likely offer it within ve years, according to one report.
The case pits New Jersey and other states against all four major U.S. professional sports leagues and the federal government. The stakes are high. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans illegally wager about $150 billion on sports each year.