Now, at the beginning of November, companies are often starting to plan and hold the famous company lunch or dinner. This traditional festive event held by the company for a merely fun and festive purpose also brings with it a series of doubts or even problems from a labour standpoint that we will analyse in this article.

Firstly, you could have a doubt about whether or not the company can cancel the Christmas lunch or dinner with the workers:

This issue has been dealt with by the courts too, as also arises with the very frequent doubt about offering or replacing the Christmas hampers. In the judgement ruled by the High Court of Justice of Galicia of 9 February 2021, appeal 4672/2021, it was considered that when a benefit for workers is involved, in this case the Christmas lunch or dinner that has been repeatedly held over the years, it becomes an acquired right that the workers have included in the contractual nexus over time and based on the employer’s intention to hold this event. This would prevent it from being cancelled or changed based on a unilateral decision adopted by the employer.

However, if the employer wishes to cancel it anyway, this must be carried out by means of a significant change in working conditions or through negotiations and an agreement being reached with the workers.

Is it compulsory to attend the Christmas lunch or dinner? Can reprisals be taken against a worker who does not attend?

Although there is no legal rule that obliges a worker to attend the Christmas events held by the company, there is indeed certain pressure to attend, above all if it takes place during working hours.

For example a worker’s dismissal was considered fair due to abuse of contractual good faith because such worker said he was unable to attend because he had to pick up his car from the mechanic on the “working” day when the company was holding the Christmas dinner with all its workers, leaving his workplace at 2 pm when his working hours normally ended at 6 pm, which meant he had left his workplace without authorisation.

However, since this event is not normally held in effective work time and due to merely being of a voluntary nature, attending it is not mandatory and neither can it be sanctioned.

Can inappropriate conduct at the Christmas dinner be sanctioned?

In spite of the previous explanations, there is certain conduct that could imply a disciplinary reprimand even though it does not take place in the work centre. This was deemed to have taken place in judgement number 494/2022 of 31 May 2022, appeal 1819/2020, ruled by the Supreme Court, which considered that the disciplinary dismissal by the company was fair. In the specific case, an employee had verbally and physically attacked his colleagues after a Christmas dinner once his superiors had already left. The court deemed the dismissal was legal since actions related to the labour relationship were involved and the facts affected the good coexistence among colleagues and indirectly affected the company, since this could result in the firm’s bad name and poor image with third parties.

How should we handle the invitation of workers whose contracts have been suspended at the time of the event, for example due to temporary disability, taking leave to care for a child or similar situations?

As we have specified, although these events take place based on a labour relationship they are not considered part of the services rendered because they are merely for pleasure, hence it is not incompatible to attend them even though a worker’s services have been suspended. 

The company must avoid contacting workers who are on sick leave and must allow them the time to rest so that they can recover; it is hence crucial to include some kind of warning in the invitation in order to avoid the worker’s condition becoming more serious due to attending the event.

It is essential to include these kinds of warnings in order to try and limit the company’s liability should any undesired situation arise, even more so if we bear in mind that case law of the Spanish courts has determined that accidents occurring during these kinds of events, or even while travelling to or from them, could be categorised as occupational accidents; all the foregoing even though the time the event takes place is not considered effective working time.

Lastly, we provide some recommendations when offering a gift or present to the staff at the Christmas lunch or dinner. 

If the company offers the staff any present or gift during the lunch or dinner, it should be an offer made to all the workers in the same way, (even if they do not attend), above all if it is money or an object of considerable value, such as colognes, perfumes, lottery tickets etc.

For example, the judgement of 10 December 2009, appeal 74/2009, ruled by Supreme Court considered that any kind of different treatment could be deemed discriminatory.

However, bearing in mind the situations explained, the best thing would be for all the staff to be able to have a pleasant time, promoting social relationships among the workers, good companionship, team synergies and other similar values.