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My employer is having a holiday party during the day. We've been informed that we are required to attend if we would normally work on that day (most folks are salaried and full-time but we have a few part-timers who aren't in every day).
I am actually surprised that I've been ordered to attend a holiday party.
Curious if others encounter this and what they do about it. I find myself wondering what would happen if I call in sick that day.
My employer is having a holiday party during the day. We've been informed that we are required to attend if we would normally work on that day (most folks are salaried and full-time but we have a few part-timers who aren't in every day).
I am actually surprised that I've been ordered to attend a holiday party.
Curious if others encounter this and what they do about it. I find myself wondering what would happen if I call in sick that day.
Heck, I was once ordered to attend the company Christmas party on a Saturday. I was told it would be career suicide if I did show up.
It's mandatory that you go and have a Jolly Good time. Even if you're miserable, lol.
I hate that sort of stuff myself, I always find ways to avoid the Holiday parties, etc.,
but I have never had them be mandatory. That's a little sad on the Employers part imo.
I always did hate holiday work parties. I had to fake that I was having a good time, even though I was miserable. I spent all day with my co-workers. The last thing I wanted to do was spend even more time with them. I'm not a very social person, so I hated all of the chit-chat and small-talk that is required at these things. And what made them even worse was that it's almost impossible to get out of them. I thought it would look bad if I didn't go, so I went. Thank God I now work for a place that doesn't have them.
To the OP, consider yourself blessed that it's on company time. Try to make the best of it. You usually sit right next to your adjacent office mates, and chow down your steak, chicken or vegetarian dish you ordered.
I got into a weird situation over this issue, and it had NOTHING to do with being antisocial. The Christmas party for this down-the-line "tell you how to vote" Republican employer was at night. I had seen the previous year's party pictures on the server and wasn't interested in sitting at the tables with the singles, being in some photograph. I talked to this man, a widower in his 50s, and he said he never went. I guess they cut him slack for having lost his wife within the last 3 or so years. One lady at work, prior to the party, said to me "Why don't you take (name of single co-worker)?" I shrugged it off. Since I didn't have a date that I would have wanted to take to a company Christmas party, I didn't go. I believe it was viewed as antisocial.
If it's within work hours, make the best of it. If it's outside work hours, I don't think they should expect/force people to attend.
I am one of the worst people at putting on a poker face, so it should be a real challenge to act like I am having fun at this thing. One of the reasons I don't want to do it is that my department became part of another department after a merger and we don't even work in the same location. So I won't even know 70% of the people at this "party." Should be a real blast.
Go, And just play the role. It's just a few hours with food and drink. I agree it's strange that it's mandatory and have never encountered this myself. Don't drink too much either. Seen people at Holiday parties that I was embarrassed for.
Ha. That is funny. I once worked at a huge hospital. I did home based care. Never knew my co workers. I went to the holiday party...and several people thought I was a "party crasher"! I only knew my boss and his assistant. I thought I would meet more people...wrong. they all spoke Spanish, since this was a "party". So, I am in a roomful of folks I did not know, who were all speaking a foreign language.
Go. Eat food. Bring food. This is part of working.
I knew a woman who ignored these parties. She said it was not her "job" to socialize with people. Hmm...guess who was the FIRST one laid off????!!!
Is work a popularity contest? Why is there so much emphasis at many companies on being a "team player" and pretending to care about your coworkers?
I go to work to work, I do a good job, and then I go home at the end of the day. I don't care to socialize with the random people I work with as they mean nothing to me. They are strangers who I happen to share an office with.
Shouldn't employers be more concerned about productivity than whether someone is or isn't interested in attending pointless social events?
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