Would you attend an all-day work event in a scorching hot building?

What is really «mandatory» in life? Benjamin Franklin would argue that there are really only two things that you can’t avoid, and you know what they are. A work event in a hot building is not one of them. Even though it isn’t fully mandatory, though, you might lose your job if you’re not careful. This is a common quagmire that bosses put their employees in. They will toss out something that is supposed to be fun, and then imply consequences if they don’t show up. This is not a nice position to put your employees in, no matter what. 

Moreover, you should never ask your employees to put their health and themselves at risk for their job. Especially if it’s an office job. There is no reason for anyone to put themselves through something that they don’t need to be going through. And if there is excessive heat, then that can be legitimately huge risks to that. Heat can be dangerous, and there is not a great way around it. If you don’t have proper air conditioning during a heat wave, then you need to seriously limit your activity. You don’t want to exhaust yourself and have no way to recover. But the employer in this story was asking a lot of their employees, and it was a huge risk to everyone involved.