Q&A

Ask the Experts: Employee Plus Ones

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Is managing your employees and staying compliant a constant headache? You’re not alone. Many businesses struggle to keep up with the ever-changing HR landscape. That’s why we’ve partnered with Mineral to offer our Benefits clients cutting-edge HR and compliance solutions. Through this partnership, we empower our Benefits clients with the expert guidance, proactive compliance updates and easy-to-use tools they need to build a high-performing, compliant workplace. In this Q&A series, we’ll share a glimpse into the type of valuable insights our clients receive.

Question: We are hosting an event and would like to allow our employees to bring a guest. Should we put limits on who they can invite (e.g., their spouse)?

Answer: The decision is up to you, but we don’t generally recommend limiting who can be a “plus one.” Not everyone has a spouse or significant other, so allowing employees to bring whomever they want is more inclusive and inviting. They’re more likely to attend and have a good time. Not placing limits on who can be a plus one also saves you from having to define terms like “significant other” or “partner” and determining whether certain guests qualify.

That said, depending on the type of event, it could be reasonable to limit guests to those who are at least 18 or 21 years old.

If you opt to restrict who can be a guest, inform employees ahead of time and be prepared to explain your reasoning.

This article originally appeared on the Mineral blog and is adapted with permission. It does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.

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