Drinking at work events is a routine feature of many American industries. While for many it represents a perk and even a highlight, for others it’s a time to dread.
And whatever an employee’s feelings about boozy work events, the multiple downsides are undeniable – including potential company liability for staff drinking and the billions of dollars drinking at work costs employers every year.
This study will consider the various issues associated with work events that involve drinking. We’ll look at employee opinion, state disparities, and the age groups that most enjoy or dislike such occasions. And we’ll focus on how work drinks can lead to criminal charges and high costs for both attendees and companies alike.
Let’s first consider the broad range of American employee opinions on the subject, which illustrates widely different takes on the matter.
Boozy Work Events: Divided Employee Opinion
When it comes to sipping a boozy beverage at a company event, American employees’ opinions are as varied as the holiday cocktail menu. For example:
- 51% prefer company holiday parties where alcohol flows freely
- 49% prefer an alcohol-free atmosphere
- 59% of men wish there were more alcohol offerings at such events
- 55% of women would rather skip work event drinks altogether.
As the following table illustrates, Millennials (closely followed by Gen Z) are the generations that, by a significant margin, most enjoy alcohol-centric holiday parties.
In a survey of 1,400 Americans, 88% said they drink alcohol at company parties, with 20% admitting to binge drinking at such events. Data also reveals that 24% of workers report that alcohol is served at team bonding events, while 13% report that employers gave them permission to drink with clients/customers.
Yet alcohol has a clear downside, with excessive drinking often leading to inappropriate comments, illness, assault, sexual harassment, and drunk driving.
Some Reported Consequences of Drinking at Work Events
The following list records the results of a survey involving 1100 full-time employees at companies that have held work events featuring alcohol.
The percentage covers the proportion of workers who admit to the listed consequences, which range from the cringe-inducing to the criminal and catastrophic.
From the same survey, here’s a measure of how employees attending boozy work events felt about other employees in attendance.
And from the same survey source, here are the industries that feature the highest number of company events that feature alcohol.
Top 5 Industries For Event Alcohol Consumption
- Technology
- Construction
- Marketing and advertising
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation
- Information services and data processing
Not all employees are enthusiastic about drinking at work events, with over a third (35%) of respondents suggesting they’d rather avoid such occasions. Here are some other examples of their responses to work event invitations.
- 22.3% use an excuse to avoid attending
- 15.8% reluctantly drink at work events
- 13.8% avoid going to work events involving alcohol
- 11.5% go as far as pretending to drink alcohol at work events.
An alternative Niznik Behavioral Health survey regarding how drinking habits change when given access to an open bar featured 1,007 people who had recently attended such events. 53.4% said they drink more at an open bar than if they’re paying for drinks, while 43% suggested they drink roughly the same either way.
Here’s a comparative breakdown of the types of drinks men and women choose when they’re paying for their drinks, and when the bar is free. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive drinks are far more popular when the company is footing the bill.
| Regular Bar | Men | Women | Open Bar | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beer | 48% | 16.6% | Beer | 17.8% | 3.9% |
| Liquor | 42.6% | 48.9% | Liquor | 73.8% | 82.6% |
| Wine | 9.4% | 34.5% | Wine | 8.4% | 13.5% |
When respondents were asked which event was most synonymous with an open bar, the most popular response was a wedding (40.2%); the average number of drinks taken at a wedding open bar was 5.3 drinks per person. Work events came second with 17.8%; respondents suggested they consumed an average of 4.3 drinks at a company open bar.
Here’s a fuller list of findings, including the average cost of drinks taken from a free bar.
| Free Bar Event | Avg Drinks Consumed | Avg Amount Spent |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding (40.2%) | 5.3 | 41.19 |
| Company event (17.8%) | 4.3 | 38.53 |
| Birthday (15.5%) | 5.3 | 46.30 |
| Holiday (10.1%) | 5.3 | 39.46 |
| Other (8.8%) | 4.9 | n/a |
| Family event (7.6%) | 5.1 | 38.53 |
And in each case, respondents were asked how likely they were to get drunk or black out during the occasion.
| Event | % Drunk | % Blacked Out |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding | 59.5 | 31.8 |
| Birthday | 57.7 | 24.5 |
| Holiday | 56.1 | 26.1 |
| Family event | 51.3 | 15 |
| Company party | 50.5 | 23.9 |
Beyond the consumption of alcohol, over 8% of employees also said they’d engaged in sexual activity with a coworker at work events that featured drinking, while 2% admitted to sexually harassing a coworker.
But how do states compare when it comes to drinking at work?
State Work Drinking Differentials
When we consider the statistics around different states’ habits regarding alcohol consumption at work, there are markedly wide disparities across the United States.
For example, study data tells us that over two-thirds (67%) of Alaska’s working population has drunk alcohol during working hours, yet only around an eighth (13%) of Nebraska employees have done likewise.
Here’s a full list of the ten states that feature the highest number of people who drink during working hours.
| State | Main Drink | % Who Drink During Working Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Liquor | 67% |
| Maine | Liquor | 60% |
| New Mexico | Beer | 56% |
| Oklahoma | Beer | 51% |
| Delaware | Liquor | 50% |
| Hawaii | Liquor | 50% |
| Mississippi | Beer | 50% |
| Nevada | Liquor | 50% |
| Indiana | Liquor | 46% |
| Connecticut | Beer | 45% |
And here’s the flipside list: the states with the lowest percentage of workers who drink on the clock.
| State | Main Drink | % Who Drink During Working Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | Beer | 13% |
| Massachusetts | Liquor | 15% |
| Arkansas | Liquor | 16% |
| South Dakota | Beer | 16% |
| Rhode Island | Beer | 17% |
| South Carolina | Liquor | 19% |
| North Dakota | Beer | 20% |
| Utah | Liquor | 21% |
| Kansas | Beer | 25% |
| Minnesota | Liquor | 25% |
In terms of the age of the drinkers, research suggests that Gen Z employees (aged 21-28) are the generation least likely to drink alcohol.
And a Gallup poll reinforces this trend, with the proportion of young adults (18-34) who say they drink alcohol falling sharply from 72% in 2003 to 62% in 2023, and the average number of alcoholic drinks they consume per week dropping from 5.2 in 2003 to 3.6 by 2023.
Overall, each year in the U.S., alcohol consumption at work costs employers between $33 billion and $68 billion due to lost productivity, car accidents on the job, medical claims, and other associated costs. In terms of squandered productivity, absenteeism among people who drink while at work is up to 8 times higher than it is among non-drinkers.
And drinking after work is another risky and costly issue for both the employer and employee.
Drinking After Work and Liability Issues
The average American worker spends over $3,000 every year on post-work drinks, with the average after-work drinking session lasting nearly two hours.
And for some employees, the costs extend further, with the potential consequences of a drunk driving citation including an increase in insurance rates by up to 71%, the loss of a driving license or job, and even a stint in jail.
Employers may also be at risk due to drinking at work. A precedent was put in place during a 2019 Oregon Supreme Court case, which established that employers who organize or encourage after-work drinking may be liable for consequences, including if employees subsequently end up driving drunk. Employer liability also increases if an employee was obliged or encouraged to attend a work event featuring alcohol.
Post-work drinking has become such an issue in some areas that happy hour sessions are now illegal in bars in seven U.S. states: Alaska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Massachusetts, which was the first to take the measure in 1984.
Alaska prohibits happy hour but has the most worktime drinkers, with 67% of workers admitting to drinking on the clock.
American Workers Spend More Than $3,000 a Year on After-work Drinks Source
- 1 in 3 workers think that after-work drinks are good for team bonding.
- The average after-work drink session lasts 1.8 hours.
- 1 in 10 workers drink shots during after work drinks.
- The research also found that 15% of employees would have no qualms about getting drunk in front of their boss. On the other hand, 11% of bosses say they would get drunk in front of their employees.
- Over one-third (38%) of Americans believe that after-work drinks are a good way to bond and strengthen a team
- It was also revealed that after working, drinking sessions last an average of 1.8 hours for most employees.
Drinking At Work: The Hangover and a Potential Cure
It’s clear from this study that, while drinking at work can mean bonding and holiday fun, it also features multiple significant downsides that are worth considering in detail.
For one thing, not everyone thinks work-related drinking is a good idea. 49% of canvassed staff members prefer alcohol-free gatherings, and 55% of women would rather give them a miss, with well over half of surveyed employees born before 1980 feeling the same way.
Additionally, nearly a quarter (22.3%) rely on an excuse to avoid attending work-related events involving drinking, while 15.8% reluctantly drink alcohol at work events.
55% of women would rather skip work event drinks altogether
Open bars exacerbate work event problems as staff generally drink significantly more alcohol, leading to an increase in verbal and physical altercations and sexual assaults.
And the more an employee drinks at a work event, the more likely they are to be involved in an issue once they’ve left, such as a drunk driving incident, which can leave a company facing significant liability penalties.
Employers who permit drinking at work are also likely to lose out when it comes to productivity and attendance, with losses of up to $68 billion estimated due to employees enjoying too much alcohol.
Employer permissiveness regarding alcohol surely contributes to the fact that 15% of American workers are (at least occasionally) under the influence of alcohol while at work, plus associated cognitive issues that could affect performance levels. And remote working has worsened employee drinking habits, with 32% of Americans more likely to drink during work hours while working from home compared to those on-site.
Ultimately, too much alcohol in any work-related setting or context can be dangerous. Beyond liability and productivity losses, alcohol lowers inhibitions and impairs judgment, which can easily lead to inappropriate behavior or comments that violate a company’s harassment policies, altercations, and sackings, and may well even bring a company’s brand into disrepute.
Tight limits on alcohol consumption are usually a good idea: companies that allow too much levity when it comes to work-related drinking do so at their own considerable risk.