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Lawyers are gearing up for the annual influx of people sacked for boozy bad behaviour at workplace Christmas parties.
Common offences include men making inappropriate advances towards female colleagues, people telling their boss what they really think of them and misuse or theft of company property.
Mark Nutsford, from Employment Relations Consultants in Auckland, said he expected to be "besieged" by people seeking advice about their dismissal.
"I usually get about 30 phone calls a day anyway and, in the later stages of January, the flavour of most of those calls is people dismissed from their jobs for bad behaviour at their work Christmas party." Nutsford said 99 per cent of dismissals were caused by booze-fuelled behaviour.
Paul Brown, from Employment Law Consultants in Christchurch, usually deals with between 10 and 20 party-related cases each January, adding there was "no end" to what goes on at office shindigs.
"You can laugh about putting your bum up on the photocopier, but do you really want that in the office?"