How can we host an office potluck while being conscious of time, safety, and monetary concerns? - HR Insights
How can we host an office potluck while being conscious of time, safety, and monetary concerns?
Question:
I work with my company’s events committee, and we are planning to host a potluck. However, we’ve had some outspoken employees voicing their concerns about the event, particularly concerning food safety and the money involved with preparing their own dishes. How can we host an office potluck while being conscious of time, safety, and monetary concerns?
Answer:
If you have a large portion of employees voicing concern, it may be worth considering throwing a different type of event, like a catered lunch. However, if you are committed to the potluck, you should consider creating rules for what dishes an employee can bring to help limit food safety concerns and keep down employee costs.
Long Answer
Potlucks can be a surprisingly hot topic around offices. Some people love them, others despise them. In the event your company hosts a potluck, there are a lot of valid concerns to address.
Safety - Allergies and Sanitation
If the main issue is food safety in regard to allergies – We actually have answered a question about this topic previously; you can check it out here: How should we handle food allergies in the office? - HR Insights.
But even with those steps, each dish is prepared in a different environment, and with no way to ensure proper sanitation. If you’re not willing to take that risk, it may be good to establish some ground rules on what dishes are allowed. You could limit employees to store bought dishes, or limit the menu to foods that are at less risk of contamination. It may even be worth having the company provide the main meal, so that employees only bring side dishes. Whatever your solution, it’s important to consider employees may be uncomfortable eating food prepared by their peers.
Investment - Time & Money
Another big issue is investment. There are a lot of companies that require employees to bring a dish, which forces them to spend time and money. A quick solution is to make the event optional, which can help with morale if there are a number of employees who don’t want to participate. However, that can then lead to concerns regarding attendance. This is where having guidelines can help; if you limit dishes to store bought or relatively simple, low-cost foods, it may encourage more employees to participate.
These solutions can’t fix every problem. If you have a large number of employees voicing concern about the event, it may be worth reconsidering changing it. There are plenty of alternatives to potlucks that can provide the same experience, without having to navigate the risks.
How can we host a potluck while being conscious of time, safety, and monetary concerns?
Please note: This information is not legal advice and may not reflect specific state or local requirements.
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