Who is killing the office Christmas party? I blame that phenomenon known only by its initials, WFH.

People who Work From Home must find it hard to throw an end-of-year party, especially if they’re on their own. Sure, you can stick a few tinnies in a bucket of ice and set out a bowl of Cheezels, but even Secret Santa is going to be a dud because you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. It’s what you went and bought for yourself, remember?

A bunch of people who have laboured together all year in an office environment, however, will naturally assume there will be a Christmas knees-up. It has always been one of the perks of working in an office.

Taken from the old-fashioned word “perquisites”, perks are offerings by an employer that go beyond the basic salary and benefits package. Ah, but several large employers have recently announced that those who work from home risk having their bonuses cut if they don’t comply with office-attendance rules. And with staff numbers divided between office and home, enthusiasm for supplying free booze and Cheezels at the office Christmas party is waning.

This is not only sad, it’s wrong. We’re all feeling our way towards a balance between work and home, connection and productivity. And Christmas is a time to bring people together, no matter the differences.

As two food writers who have worked from home for many Christmases, my wife and I tackled the issue head-on decades ago by insisting on an office party. Yes, just for the two of us. With no chief financial officer to say otherwise, we award it a disproportionately large budget.

The agreed strategy is to book a table for two in the restaurant we would both most like to go to, once we have stopped arguing about which restaurant that will be.

This year, it could be the intriguing new King Clarence modern Asian or the charming Ursula’s in Sydney.

Or it could be in Melbourne, at the sparkling new Reine & La Rue, or cheeky little Gray and Gray Bread and Wine, with its kooky Russian and Georgian menu.

There will be too much to eat and drink, lots of long, boring speeches, and we both get to go home to bed with someone from work (each other). The office Christmas party lives on.

theemptyplate@goodweekend.com.au