Celebrating birthdays, holidays or other events in the workplace can be a sensitive issue for many reasons. Some employees, for example, may not want to disclose their age on birthdays. Some may have mental disabilities that are triggered or challenged by social celebrations. Some employees could have hurt feelings if their birthday was not celebrated like others were. Aside from any celebration, employees may feel uncomfortable about the fact that they cannot financially contribute to collective office gifts. On the other hand, recognition and social events can boost morale.
It is often a good idea to establish a policy addressing issues relating to workplace celebrations. No one policy will work for all businesses. This is because a number of factors must be considered, such as the size of the company and the nature of the work being performed. An employer with a large number of employees, for instance, may choose to have one celebration per month acknowledging all monthly birthdays, milestones or holidays to cut down on cost and to minimize workplace disruptions. Smaller employers with a more intimate workplace environment, on the other hand, may elect to allow individual celebrations. The range of workplace approaches to celebrations...
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