Parents and children in company family-day photographs

A family day brings employees' children into a setting that belongs to the company. The employee is part of the company; the child is not. This difference matters for photography, and the safest approach is to treat it explicitly. This page sits within our guide to corporate family-day photography.

Whose permission is needed?

The parent or guardian decides for their child. An employee's agreement to the company's event programme is not automatically agreement to photographs of their children, or to how those photographs are used.

This does not need to be heavy. It needs to be clear. Tell parents in advance that a photographer will be present, what the images are for, who sees them and how to opt out. Our guide to children's event photographs: questions authorised adults must resolve lists the points to settle.

Privacy rules may apply to how a company collects and uses images of identifiable people. We do not give legal advice; ask your own adviser what applies to your company and to employee families. Our guide to event photography privacy, permission and image use is a starting point.

Separate the uses

It helps to separate three kinds of use.

Use	Who benefits	Consent point
Family keepsake	The family	Parents decide if their child is included
Internal company record	Employees and HR	Tell parents and offer opt-out
External communications	The company's public image	Needs specific, clear agreement

Many companies keep external uses to images of adults, or to images where children cannot be identified. Others ask parents to agree specific uses. Our guide to personal, internal, press and advertising uses of photographs explains the differences.

Telling parents

A short notice does most of the work. Include it in the invitation and the programme sheet, and place a sign at the entrance on the day. State:

• that a photographer will be present;
• what the images are for;
• who will see them;
• how a parent can opt out, and whom to tell.

Give a named contact. Our post-event image use planner helps you decide the uses before the day.

A clearly hypothetical example

Imagine a company family day for 250 people. The invitation says a photographer will be present, that images will be shared in a private family gallery and that a small selection of images of adults and groups may be used internally. Parents can opt out of any photographs of their children by telling a named HR contact.

On the day, children whose parents opted out wear a coloured wristband. The photographer avoids them in individual and small-group frames. External communications use only images of staff and wide shots where no child can be identified.

Family galleries

Families will want their own photographs. Decide how they receive them. A single company gallery shows every family to every other. A private link for each family is safer but needs more preparation. Our photo sharing and privacy plan records the decision, and the page on whether every attending family can receive a photograph explains what is realistic.

If a parent changes their mind

Preferences can change after the event. A parent may see a gallery and ask for an image to be removed, or ask that a child not appear in a newsletter. Decide beforehand who receives such requests and how quickly the company will act. Writing a short procedure, with one named contact, makes these requests easy to handle calmly. Our guide to event photography privacy, permission and image use lists the points to settle.

What to tell the photographer

• The notice that parents received.
• Children who must not be photographed, and how they are identified.
• The uses of the images.
• Who approves the selection.
• Where the photographer may work around children's activities. See authorised photography zones around children's activities.

What affects the plan and cost

The number of attendees, the length of the day, the number of areas, the family-gallery arrangements and the deliverables matter. Your quotation states the coverage window and deliverables in writing, and we confirm the crew assigned to your event when we confirm the booking. The image-use and approval register is a simple way to record decisions.