Holding staff functions, including staff Christmas Parties can sometimes cause unintended grief despite the best of intention from the Employer.
A staff party or a Christmas Party whether held in the workplace or in an external third party venue is deemed to be an employer organised event and has the associated employer responsibilities.
Please see the suggested draft letter or email that you can forward to employees in advance of your event and which is setting out the employee responsibilities for such staff social events.
The draft letter / email can be found here and the undersigned is happy to discuss any concerns with you.
Regards
John Sweetman
Workplace Relations Advisor