76% of employees paid for their Christmas party

An alarming number of UK bosses made employees cough up for their own Christmas parties and many cancelled them altogether, according to research by One4all Rewards.

76% of workers were made to pay for the annual office knees-up, according to a survey of 2,009 UK workers.

However with one in three employees confessing their company didn’t even have a Christmas party last year, those who had to contribute to the cost should count themselves lucky.

The data shows 32% of workers believe a Christmas party is the least their employer can do to show gratitude for their efforts and a further one in five feel it is only acceptable for a company to not throw a Christmas party when it is in dire financial circumstances.

And almost one in two feel they shouldn’t be asked to pay for the annual work get together.

While Christmas parties may seem like a frivolous activity, the impact cancelling them altogether can have on morale and perception of the business is significant.

One in three workers say it would make them feel as though their employer did not value the workforce, while 13% would question how financially secure the business was.

One in 10 would be likely to think twice about taking a job there over another one that does offer Christmas parties and the same amount would even consider looking for a new job if their work party was cancelled.

Employers within local or national government are the most likely to make their staff go without a Christmas party, with 48% of those in this sector saying their company is not having one this year – closely followed by those in transportation (42%) and leisure and travel (43%).

Local or national government employers are also the most likely to ask staff pay for their Christmas party, with 97% of workers in this sector being made to do so. Healthcare (84%) and education (85%) came in second and third.