Rules to Remember For Your Office Halloween Party

Is your office dressing up for Halloween?

Mine isn’t. It’s not that I wouldn’t. OK, I wouldn’t. But if others wanted to, I wouldn’t say “no.”

I mean, everyone has that one person in their office that’s a little way too excited over Halloween. I get it. I have kids. They lose their minds at the thought of free candy and dressing up.

But you’re an adult. Let’s try and keep it together at the office.

7 rules you need to remember

That is why I think it’s important to have rules for your Office Halloween Party. Here are mine:

Racism-themed costumes never go over like you thought they would when you were drunk and came up with the concept. “No, really, we’re going as the black KKK!” Just don’t do it.
Anything with “naughty” in the title isn’t work appropriate — Naughty Teacher, Naughty Nurse, Naughty Witch. You get the idea. The only time this would work is when taking the opposite stance. For example, Naughty Human Resource Manager is totally appropriate. This costume consists of a cat sweater, hair in a bun, long skirt (pants or skort), old lady panty hose, and 6 inch pumps. Sexy!
Don’t be the “guy” offering “tricks” all day. That’s just creepy. Also, don’t be the “gal” offering “tricks” all day. That’s just slutty.
Anything that interferes with your ability to do your actual job shouldn’t be a costume selection. “Well, I didn’t think about how being a Rubic’s Cube for the day would get in the way of me being a nurse.”
Dressing up like the boss is always in good taste, but only if your boss doesn’t hate you.
If you have to put a sign on to explain what you are, go back to the drawing board. “Wait, you see, I’m ‘Hard to Get Along With‘ ” Yeah, we got it…
If less than half your staff will be dressing up, you need to cancel dressing up. At that point, it’s just sad.

In HR we love our dress code rules, and for Halloween parties, why should we be any different! What are your favorite Halloween party rules at the office?

This was originally published on The Tim Sackett Project.