It’s that time of year again, All Hallow’s Eve is right around the corner. If you’re thinking about throwing an office Halloween party, you may be wondering: what is (and what is not) appropriate? Consider the following points:
Culture and Industry Matter
If your business is a funeral home, dressing up as a creepy vampire is a terrible idea. However, if your business is an after-school hangout for teens, that might be perfect. You need to consider not only your workplace culture but also your clients.
Real business still needs to be accomplished on Halloween. If your office is completely covered with spooky decorations and everyone is in costumes, will your clients be OK with that? It’s crucial to know your industry.
To keep reading, click here: Hosting an Office Halloween Party: Dos and Don’ts
Okay, but I would 100% choose the funeral home where they dressed up like vampires. 🙂
Well, me too. But I suspect we’re not normal.
I’m in.
We are going to have the BEST funerals.
Oh yes. We so totally are.
Is there a prize for understatement of the week? 🙂
(My brother once won a prize for most original costume at a Halloween party. He was dressed as Santa Claus. Wasn’t a work party, though. He was about 8 at the time.)
I attended a play last week where the ticket was half price if you showed up in costume. So I wore my regular clothes but threw on a bunch of jewelry,, pulled down the neckline so my bra was exposed, and rolled the hem of my shirt under my bra.
I was Mutton Dressed As Lamb.
Great article which could apply to any office celebration using the statement word—voluntary.
For whatever reasons not everyone wants to be partying.
Some of those invites don’t sound like much fun. But, on the other hand, at least they’re voluntary. At my last job, the Manager very imperiously demanded that everyone participate in holiday events. God forbid that one would show up on Hallowe’en out of costume, or “Hat Day” bare-headed. She you sternly cross-examine you as to why and make her displeasure known. Took a lot of the fun out of things that were supposed to improve the workplace environment. Furthermore, this was a law office and had more than one employee that had religious convictions against celebrating holidays.
well, I’m a curmudgeonly old HR lady who worries about being in compliance with the law AND I’m an introvert. Heh.
As for the law office violating laws, I get more letters from people who work for lawyers than any other group. I swear, so many lawyers think they are exempt from employment law.
I worked in Parks & Rec for many years so it was a given we dressed up on Halloween. Anything went as long as it was G rated as we had a ton of kids in the facility. We had long lists of what was NOT G rated from actual costumes to cleavage of any sort (for or aft), profane to costumes that meant you couldn’t move quickly in an emergency.
Employees I had to send home to change:
Playboy Bunny (and woman was in her 40s, she had worked there for 10 years, she really should have known not to)
Cheerleader with no underpants
Guy dressed as ribbed condom
Pirate wench wearing nothing but a very small vest and shorts that didn’t even qualify as Daisy Dukes
Pirate (yep, boyfriend of wench) whose “pants” were spandex tights with nothing underneath and yes I could tell, even from a distance!
Guy dressed as Hitler (he argued it was the scariest costume he could think of and I kinda agreed, but still)
Fun times!