Human Resources: Year-end Celebrations and Company-wide Bashes Will be Widespread, BNA Survey Finds

Washington, D.C. (December 14, 2006) - With the stock market hitting record highs in 2006, a new survey conducted by BNA® and sponsored by Kronos® Incorporated (Nasdaq:KRON) finds that employer-sponsored holiday parties are going strong in most quarters. Although the numbers of such celebrations had been trending downward in the early part of the decade, they remain near record highs in 2006 after rebounding over the past few years.

For more than two decades BNA's Year-End Holiday Practices Survey has offered an annual snapshot of companies' plans for marking the year's end and recognizing employees' contributions with benefits like holiday parties and celebrations, paid time off, gifts and bonuses, and holiday charity drives. This year's results are based on responses of human resources executives representing a cross section of 214 U.S. employers.

Survey highlights include:

Year-end celebrations and company-wide bashes will be widespread. Overall, 82 percent of employers will sponsor one or more year-end parties in 2006, in line with figures reported in 2005 (83 percent). Similarly, two-thirds of those surveyed (67 percent) will sponsor large company-wide parties this year, almost identical to 2005 (66 percent). In line with a stronger economy, these figures are up six to 10 percentage points over those recorded in the early part of the decade.

While small employers remain more inclined toward parties, the smallest are cutting back. Although smaller employers are traditionally more likely to throw company-wide holiday parties for staff than their larger counterparts, numbers reported by the very smallest-those with fewer than 250 employees-run counter to the prevailing upward trend in 2006. Sharp declines in party giving from 2005 to 2006 are found in companies with fewer than 100 employees (from 88 percent to 75 percent) and in those with 100 to 249 employees (from 79 percent to 68 percent). By contrast, parties are up at least five percentage points in every other size category tracked by the survey.

For-profit businesses are among those most likely to host parties and similar year-end events. Across industry sectors, 90 percent of manufacturing firms and 85 percent of nonmanufacturers say they will hold some kind of year-end event for staff, compared with just 73 percent of nonbusiness sector establishments.

Most organizations that sponsor company-wide events will pick up the full tab. Planned spending on parties also rises. Fully 86 percent of employers sponsoring holiday parties in 2006 will pay the full cost of the event, the same as reported in 2005 (83 percent). Median spending on company-wide parties has rebounded in 2006 ($7,000) after a dip in 2005 ($5,000). This translates to median party spending of $36 per employee, up slightly from the 2005 figure ($35 per employee).

Alcoholic beverages will be available at most company parties. Nearly two-thirds of organizations (64 percent) plan to serve alcohol at their company parties. This year's figure matches that reported in 2005 and is a modest increase over figures recorded in 2004 (58 percent) and 2003 (61 percent).

Nonbusiness establishments are among those least likely to serve alcohol at year-end parties. Just under half (47 percent) of nonbusiness organizations will make alcoholic beverages available at company-wide parties this year. This is well below the numbers reported by manufacturing firms (75 percent) and nonmanufacturing establishments (67 percent).

Organizations will take steps to limit excessive drinking and safeguard guests attending company parties. To protect guests and limit liability, many companies that serve alcohol at year-end parties plan to monitor consumption (74 percent), limit alcohol serving times (45 percent), offer taxi services (41 percent), and provide discounted hotel rates to encourage overnight stays (32 percent).

Guests will be welcome at most company-wide events. Sixty percent of organizations report that spouses or other guests will be welcome at organization-wide parties. This year's figure is in line with those reported in 2005 (62 percent), 2004 (63 percent), and 2003 (61 percent).

Most employers will sponsor other year-end festivities and permit informal celebrations. Nearly six in 10 of the organizations (57 percent) expect to hold celebrations other than the large company-wide parties this year. More than a third (36 percent) will sponsor events at the unit or department level, while 42 percent will also allow informal holiday parties - those sponsored and funded by employees - to be held on company time.

Method: Survey data were collected from Oct. 3 through Nov. 2, 2006 using a Web-based questionnaire sent to human resources executives. A cross section of 214 U.S. employers participated. Of these, 78 percent employ fewer than 1,000 workers, while 22 percent employ 1,000 or more. [Note: the survey does not attempt to represent very large organizations with over 5,000 workers, which make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. employers]. Twenty-four percent of those participating were manufacturing firms, 38 percent were nonmanufacturing companies, and 38 percent were nonbusiness entities, such as government employers, hospitals, educational institutions, and other nonprofits. Nonunion establishments make up 80 percent of the survey sample, while the remaining 20 percent employ at least some union-represented workers.

A video presentation of the survey results can be accessed from: www.bna.com/holiday2006. From this site, viewers may download a free copy of the full report.

BNA is a leading publisher of print and electronic news and information for professionals in business and government. BNA produces more than 300 news services, including the highly respected Daily Labor Report and Daily Report for Executives. Visit BNA online at www.bna.com

Kronos Incorporated empowers organizations around the world to effectively manage their workforce. At Kronos, we are experts who are solely focused on delivering software and services that enable organizations to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction, and ultimately enhance the level of service they provide. Kronos serves customers in more than 50 countries through its network of offices, subsidiaries, and distributors. Widely recognized as a market and thought leader in managing the workforce, Kronos has unrivaled reach with more than 30 million people using a Kronos solution every day. Learn more about Kronos at www.kronos.com.