NEW YORK, US - ONE in five United States workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers, where the most common mishaps range from bad-mouthing another worker to kissing a colleague and drinking too much, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Most workers attend so-called happy hours to bond with colleagues, although 15 per cent go to hear the latest office gossip and 13 per cent go because they feel obligated, said the survey conducted for CareerBuilder.com, an online job site.

As to what happens when the after-work drinks flow, 16 per cent reported bad-mouthing a colleague, 10 per cent shared a secret about a colleague, 8 per cent kissed a colleague and 8 per cent said they drank too much and acted unprofessionally.

Five per cent said they had shared a secret about the company, and 4 per cent confessed to singing karaoke.

While 21 per cent of those who attend say happy hours are good for networking, 85 per cent said attending had not helped them get closer to someone higher up or get a better position.

An equal number of men and women said they attend happy hours with co-workers, with younger workers age 25 to 34 most likely and workers over 55 least likely to attend.

Overall, 21 per cent of workers attend happy hours with co-workers and, of those, nearly a quarter go at least once a month.

The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 6,987 full-time employees between Feb 11 and March 13.

Harris Interactive said the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points. -- REUTERS