What 'NOT' to do at your office Xmas party

First it starts off with lots of excitement and exchanging gifts for Kris Kringle, then a glass or two of champagne just to ensure all inhibitions are out the window and make sure it really does feel like Xmas.

People make jokes, some inappropriate, and then someone calls for shots (for those who are unfamiliar with this, a shot is pure alcohol in a little shot glass, guaranteed to ensure you get plastered).

Everyone is laughing, having fun - it's the best.

Until it's not. Someone who doesn't drink so much has just that one extra glass or shot that takes them over the edge. All of a sudden they find themselves with a colleague holding their hair back in the restrooms, while they throw up. The person holding their hair back, goes out to the main group and let's them know why their colleague has been absent, which quickly turns to office gossip.

What the heck... everyone is having fun. It's not a Xmas party if someone doesn't throw up - right?

Letting your hair down, or in our male counterparts cases "having a big night" is all part of the parcel of an office Xmas party, but it is there, and afterwards that things can go wrong.

Here are the RULES:

• Drink a few drinks, but anything more than 3 is going to turn into disaster
• Be aware of boisterous behaviour, as it may offend someone that you work with
• Wearing reveiling clothing is not a good idea, simply because this is still your professional environment even though you are not in an office setting
• Keep swearing and jokes that may be deemed inappropriate at bay
• Be aware of beer goggles. That colleague that you all of a sudden find hot and place your arm around because you have had a few too many to drink, may be deemed 'sexual harassment' in the future and it may create an awkward setting the next day in the office
• Don't tell people what you think of them just because you have had a few too many to drink
• Your boss, is still your boss. Be mindful of that
• No dancing on tables, stealing bottles of liquor from behind the bar, or walking in the streets with a bottle of wine
• Make sure you leave at a decent hour and have safe transportation to get home. 

No-one wants a disaster to ruin what they have in the workplace. Keep safe, don't drink too much and ensure that you have fun.