As the party season gets under way, a poll shows that almost all UK managers (92%) worry that their staff are having too many sick or duvet days after excessive Christmas celebrations.

The survey asked 200 UK line managers to rate their biggest concerns about Christmas celebrations. Taking too many sick days was the largest concern amongst managers, yet 85% of managers also worried about whether or not to hold an office party.

Meanwhile 77% were concerned about handling fall-out from the office Christmas party and 71% of managers were concerned that their staff spent too much company time doing their Christmas shopping online, instead of work related activities.

Dealing with fall-out from the office party and employees having excessively long lunch hours and returning to work “under the influence” of their refreshments shared joint second place as the biggest single concern for managers as Christmas approaches.

Phil Brown, managing director of Youmanage who commissioned the survey said that Christmas could be a double-edged sword for most managers. “Problems tend to occur where there is lack of clarity and/or consistency,” Brown added. “The key to minimising potential issues is to agree company-wide policies and guidelines, communicate them well in advance so there is no room for ambiguity, and then apply the policies consistently and impartially.”