SHAMEFUL CHRISTMAS PARTY GAFFES

Giving the boss's wife a wedgy

Sarah Brown remembers her first office Christmas party at her new job as a city banker. She recalls: 'I was nervous because I didn't know my new colleagues that well, so headed to the bar for frequent shots of Dutch courage. Before I knew it I was completely bladdered.

'I vaguely remember seeing a woman leaning over the bar wearing low-cut trousers and a white g-string poking out the top. For some reason I thought it would be funny to grab her G-string and give her a wedgy! Only when she turned around did I realise she was the boss's wife.

The following day, I was given a proper stripping down from my boss. I wrote a long gushing letter of apology to his wife, but unsurprisingly I didn't last long in that job.'

Solution: Philip Hodson, Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, advises: 'It is always an excellent policy to apologise the next day for serious lapses of conduct. You can try to blame the wine but it might be more astute to say 'I'll make sure I don't drink so much in future.'

Coming on to someone you shouldn't

If they are senior then it's likely that they were flattered, if they are junior (the post room boy is always popular this time of year) you could be in trouble - especially if you are the boss. Surveys have shown that three out of four bosses admit that a member of their staff has threatened to take a case to an employment tribunal following bad behaviour at a Christmas party.

Solution: Don't ignore the issue. Speak to them as soon as you can and apologise. Explain that you did not want to make them feel uncomfortable and give them the opportunity to express how they feel. Of course, in both situations it never hurts to come up with a fake boyfriend as a means of dampening any expectations.

Regaling the whole office with intimate stories about your sex life

The line between your personal and professional relationships can often get blurred, especially when you are in an informal setting and out of the office. You spend most of your waking hours with these people, why shouldn't they be entertained with your kinky stories and sexploitations, right? Wrong!

Solution: You need to preserve your integrity by having conversational boundaries, because otherwise you will just become office gossip fodder. If you do say too much, sadly there is not much you can do. Just keep your head low for a bit and learn to bite your tongue next time.

How to avoid being the office party fooligan

1. EAT! A 1994 study by Swedish researchers showed that eating before drinking slows your rate of intoxication and lowers your blood alcohol content by 30 per cent. Go for starchy, high-carb foods like bread or pasta. They soak up the alcohol and will help you last longer.

2. WATER! Drink glasses of water between alcoholic drinks as it will slow you down and re-hydrate you.

3. AVOID COKE! There is research to suggest that some carbonated mixers, like coke, increase the rate that alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream, making you drunk quicker.

4. HAVE A BUDDY SYSTEM! Ask a good friend or colleague to buddy up with you, agree you will help keep an eye on each other's intake and make sure you don't do anything you might regret.

5. REMEMBER YOU ARE STILL AT WORK! While office parties and social events are great fun and a chance to let your hair down, they are also an opportunity to network with other more senior colleagues in a relaxed environment.

Have fun, but if you are after a promotion, now is the time to get friendly with, and give a good impression to, the upper-ups.