Do you have "work events" at your workplace?

[Texaco Shirley]

What did they do, Pawpads?

We used to have the occasional do - our Christmas party was cancelled, but before that we had an evening barbecue during the summer with unlimited drinks. My colleagues being mostly French, people are quite well-behaved. Although I did get a bit huggy at the BBQ, which was obviously not a brilliant idea during the pandemic.
If we go out for lunch, people sometimes drink, but usually never more than one or two. We do have a "no hard alcohol" in the office rule, but that's not really been needed for quite some time (since us long-term employees were younger and wilder).

ETA Just looked it up and it's just hard alcohol that's banned completely, but companies are now allowed to ban all alcohol if they want.

Yeah, wine is fine, it's practically a soft drink.

When I worked for a French company the Paris office used to have wine in the canteen. The Feltham office didn’t (quelle surprise )

[Princess Morripov]

It is quite sociable at my place, however my permanent WFH and more acceptance that childcare can be challenging has meant that I can swerve a lot of things these days.

When I worked in Hong Kong a lot there was a champagne bar on the 6th floor of the office every time I came back from HK I was nearly dead from socialising, I think there was a dangerous combo of lots of expats/people here for a good time not a long time types so you couldn’t actually get out of the office without being dragged for one drink, and then the next thing it was 1am again and you’re eating chicken schnitzel in a weird shopping centre

Pre-covid at the office I would go into (which is not the company I’m employed by but a bank that they own that is also a major retailer :vague: ) and they are very ALL OF THE SOCIAL THINGS and there was always some kind of event in the Atrium, cupcake on the desk, glass of fizz at lunch time for some random thing we were supposed to be celebrating (I remember one where there was a huge build up about a successful deal/great results and we all thought there might be some leave being awarded or whatnot (which wouldn’t apply to me anyway as I’m not employed by them) and it was to tell everyone they’d secured naming a north west event arena in their name which of course went down like a damp squib despite the tepid lunchtime cava

I think my team (in particular my manager who has really struggled WFH as she likes to be around people) are quite sociable but I’ve only met some of them once in the 2 years I’ve been on that team, and that was recently for Christmas drinks in London, so not in a working capacity

Anyway I don’t think there’s a view either way re attendance at “work” events but I do think if you never attend anything you miss the opportunity to build up rapport/get in on the in jokes etc.

[SunnyMum]

What did they do, Pawpads?

We used to have the occasional do - our Christmas party was cancelled, but before that we had an evening barbecue during the summer with unlimited drinks. My colleagues being mostly French, people are quite well-behaved. Although I did get a bit huggy at the BBQ, which was obviously not a brilliant idea during the pandemic.
If we go out for lunch, people sometimes drink, but usually never more than one or two. We do have a "no hard alcohol" in the office rule, but that's not really been needed for quite some time (since us long-term employees were younger and wilder).

ETA Just looked it up and it's just hard alcohol that's banned completely, but companies are now allowed to ban all alcohol if they want.

Yeah, wine is fine, it's practically a soft drink.

Technically, legally only cider is allowed. Or at least that is my understanding.
Our team once had a picnic style lunch thing where everyone brought in something to eat / drink. We met up in a meeting room. What we didn't know was that next door was a regional meeting of all the RH bosses. My boss got a discreet bollocking because we had rosé and red wine.

[SunnyMum]

Ooops. No, I stand corrected : wine, beer, cider or poiré are allowed. https://www.service-public.fr/particuli ... its/F32177

Maybe my boss got a bollocking because the RH wasn't invited. Or .... our local règlement intérieur only allows for cider.

[Chicky]

I work for a university and there is a lot of alcohol at events after work, but rarely at lunchtime events other than graduation. The uni have mostly stopped people buying alcohol with internal money for internal events but if there is an external guest/speaker or someone from senior management is attending then it seems to be fine.

[ParisGal]

We used to have the occasional do - our Christmas party was cancelled, but before that we had an evening barbecue during the summer with unlimited drinks. My colleagues being mostly French, people are quite well-behaved. Although I did get a bit huggy at the BBQ, which was obviously not a brilliant idea during the pandemic.
If we go out for lunch, people sometimes drink, but usually never more than one or two. We do have a "no hard alcohol" in the office rule, but that's not really been needed for quite some time (since us long-term employees were younger and wilder).

ETA Just looked it up and it's just hard alcohol that's banned completely, but companies are now allowed to ban all alcohol if they want.

Yeah, wine is fine, it's practically a soft drink.

When I worked for a French company the Paris office used to have wine in the canteen. The Feltham office didn’t (quelle surprise )

I was quite shocked one of the first times I went to one of the French factories to find that they sold beer and wine in the canteen, where people operating multi-ton presses, industrial ovens, solvent sprayers etc. had their meals I didn't see many people drinking though.

[Texaco Shirley]

The biggest potential threat to our lot would have been trapping a hand in a paper folding machine (they probably gave a proper name)

[emma_p]

I used to work in the press office for a central govt department and there was a lot of booze in the office. Friday wine at desks, drinks for journalists, post-event drinks, ministerial office drinks as a thank you, drinks with take out if you were working late, christmas parties with booze paid for by the directors, after work drinks in the pub (a particular pub in Westminster) etc.

I definitely noticed a difference from when I left in 2012 to when I returned in 2018 though. The christmas party was still boozy and I organised a couple of formal evening events where wine was on offer but it definitely didn't seem as ingrained in the culture.

At my current work (staff of 5 now - we were 3 inc me when I joined) we very occasionally have wine/fizz in the studio after work to celebrate a product launch or getting everything delivered on time at Christmas/Mother's Day/birthdays etc. We had planned a christmas dinner at the Ivy but canceled because of covid. We will reschedule at some point though!

[Kenickie]

As Chicky says, although when I worked for a Scottish place they banned alcohol altogether.

Wine often flows freely at research seminars etc in the evenings. The best was when I worked somewhere that used to host graduation on-site to save money, and buy in a load of wine. The students and parents would all leave after a couple of hours, and the staff would stay to finish the booze. Once the Dean came back to find a colleague trying to lift me Strictly style as we'd ask decided to practice dance moves.

I think the central London places I've been have been more boozy because of people getting public transport rather than driving.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I was going to say, I bet an inner city culture with better public transport & people living more locally makes a difference.

[Leap]

My place started off very boozy, as we were in a brand new office built specifically for our company, with huge swathes of new staff mostly in their twenties employed to fill it up. For the first year there were loads of early afternoon drinks parties, plus abundant work socialising due to the age and inclination of all the people thrown together.

I sure it probably did hurt you not to participate, not because it was frowned upon but because so many new connections were/are made that way, and a lot of the influential people I know and who have helped me along the way are either ones I met and partied with early on, or have since met through those people. I was 25 and single when I started so I went to everything, but had been burned by bad (and only partially inaccurate ) office gossip at my last place so I was careful not to get too messy or cross any lines. And that was the flip side of course - there were quite a few people along the way who fell off the other side of the office socialising spectrum and had to leave under a cloud.

More recently I’ve worked in more senior teams and they’ve been much more conscious of including everyone, making sure there’s always an alternative to booze for raffle prizes or office based team get togethers, but I do think a huge amount of influence comes out of being both present (and fun) at the team nights out. There is no greater accolade than being the last woman standing, especially if you were drinking throughout.

All of this insight is literally years old though, as I was basically pregnant or home for the whole of my most recent role, and always had a good excuse for any event that has come up since Sept 2018. I’m friends with two huge social characters though, who both fully associate me with my original partying so I continue to benefit even when I opt out entirely.

[Livilla]

in the 13 years I spent in the public sector, hardly at all. My boss would come in with bubbly for those working on Christmas Eve, but there were no work drinks on the premises of anything like that.

In all the private sector jobs I’ve had, it’s been far more normal. There’s been a bar onsite on Friday nights where people head for a drink, for example, at all my workplaces (in my very first job, there was a free after work bar on both Wednesday and Friday nights!). Most people don’t choose to drink during the day though, even if it’s on offer at a hosted lunch or similar.

[Lola]

I don’t know if we’re allowed to drink in the office; maybe I should ask ;)

My team is quite young so there used to be lots of drinks evenings & social outings planned like zorbing, panic rooms etc. I never went to any of them That all died off a bit when the most sociable person left (she was a loud Greek girl who liked to party )

In normal times they are usually Christmas dinners but I also try to avoid them too & nobody cares if you actually go or not.

[Pawpads]

What did they do, Pawpads?

Sex was had. In the toilets of a bar. At least 2 others were involved.

To be fair, the new staff member is single and one of the others is too, so there's no issue there, I think it's just the fact that there was at least one other involved (not all together) who isn't single and the fact that it happened in the toilets that has sent shockwaves around. There have been other things mentioned but that could just be gossip.

[Estrella]

When I worked for the European Commission, we would often host drinks receptions and we had a proper cellar at work. Some Fridays we would skip a tea break and have wine instead. And at headquarters there was wine in the cafeteria.

In my current place we don’t do social beyond events beyond the occasional branch morning tea which is fine with me. My team (4 of us) just went out for a lunch together for Christmas.

[Dáire]

Coding bootcamp adopted the "Friday beers" (or soft drink) tradition of the industry but I actually think it's dying out a bit. My next company had a no alcohol on the premises rules, which we all discovered after our first Friday when someone made cocktails. Next company did it. Current company sort of had it but no one ever took part. The team are a bit older and less enthralled by youthful shenanigans like Nerf guns and meetings on beanbags. The novelty has definitely worn off and I think people are thinking a lot more about why alcohol is such a 'treat' or a reward.

[bramblerose]

We used to have a Christmas night out and maybe one or two events during the year such as a BBQ or a night out which were totally optional. Nothing was ever held in the office though.

I think we had a small glass of champagne once when one of the Directors had a significant birthday

[overthehill]

R asked me, before Christmas, whether we ought to take 'the staff' out for a meal. Boozy Christmas lunches would have been very much part of the Job culture, before he retired. But, since I've only two ladies working for me, I decided they'd probably seen enough of us, and opted for a decent gift voucher instead.

Before we left London, I worked variously for a shipping company (no booze due to industry ban, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill), a biotech company (Christmas party and the odd glass of champagne in the office when clinical trials went well), medical PR firm (boozy lunch and drinks in the office every Friday), and an NHS PCT (no booze in the office, but lots of after-work socialising and an occasional office lunch out, plus Christmas party for the Trust).

[Sky]

I've been in my current job four years next month and been out precisely once with some people and can't say I'm particularly bothered, especially since I don't get on with the token team arsehole and wouldn't tire of slapping the attitude and laziness out of her. We're all different ages and quite insular in our own teams/specialties despite it being one department in a huge office.

[sally maclennane]

I didn't really mean socialising with work people, I was thinking more of drinks etc being provided and it taking place in work time/premises.

Definitely more of a private sector thing, it seems