Banning Christmas parties is political correctness gone mad

The whole business of banning Christmas parties for fear of offending non-Christians is now completely out of hand.

I have always enjoyed celebrating Christmas as an Asian born, raised and educated in the UK.

I work for a very inclusive, forward-thinking company, which recently asked me whether I found the concept of a Christmas party insulting. As an HR professional, I understand how important it is to take people’s religion into consideration – but within reason.

Of course, Christianity is not part of my culture in the same way that Hinduism is, but I’ve always loved everything about Christmas, from the lights to the trees to the parties.

The notion that I might find a workplace Christmas party insulting is just absurd. If I had a problem with it, I just wouldn’t go.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

My family always give each other small presents on Christmas Day and we always sit down to roast turkey. I appreciate many Asians may not want to mark Christmas in the same way, but I personally feel more British than Asian, having grown up here.

I still celebrate the traditional Hindu festivals like Diwali and see it as my choice to do so. But stopping Christmas parties is, in my opinion, political correctness gone mad.