Tales from the HR Hotline: How to keep midterms from haunting an office Halloween tradition, a non-exempt party planner, and jump-scares in the warehouse.

Our Advisors field a wide range of HR and Safety questions from our members each day on the HR Hotline and Advisor Chat in mozzo. In this series, we're taking common, or sometimes incredibly unique, questions, similar to what we’ve received and sharing how our Advisor team would respond.

In this spooky season edition, we hear from a member asking for advice on how to keep the midterm elections out of their office Halloween traditions, an employer wondering if party planning hours are compensable for a non-exempt employee, and from a member who has a manager who loves to scare people and has taken that too far. 

The scenarios below are anonymized and reflect questions similar to those received by our team. They may combine elements from multiple real-world situations.

Question:

We have always allowed employees to dress up on Halloween if they choose and it’s typically a harmless day of funny meetings where one or two people in a silly costume join and everyone has a good laugh. This year, we’ve heard breakroom rumblings that a few of the employees are planning to wear a politically themed group costume that I think may offend other employees. How can we ask them not to wear something that may start political arguments with others while maintaining our Halloween traditions?

Answer: 

It would be a good idea to remind employees about your Company Values and any Anti-Discrimination/Anti-Harassment policies you have ahead of time. Remind folks that you want to avoid costumes that may violate your policies or values and ask them to please ensure their costumes help to create a fun, comfortable environment for all employees.  

That communication may look something like this: 

We enjoy seeing employees participate in Halloween and appreciate the fun and creativity it brings to the workplace.

If you choose to wear a costume, please remember that our workplace includes people with many different backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives. Costumes should remain professional and appropriate for work. To help ensure everyone feels comfortable and included, please avoid costumes that could be viewed as political, offensive, discriminatory, harassing, or likely to create workplace disruption or conflict.

Thank you for helping us keep Halloween fun and enjoyable for everyone.

Question:

Our party planning committee recently had a non-exempt employee join the group. They plan on staying late to help decorate the office for our annual Halloween party, is that compensable time?  

Answer: 

It sure is! You will definitely need to pay that non-exempt employee for any hours they work decorating. This might mean you adjust their hours during the rest of the week to avoid overtime...or be ready to pay overtime, if appropriate!

Related mozzo Resource:

Managing Non-Exempt Employees Keynote

Question: 

Our warehouse team likes to joke and have fun, but lately I feel like it’s going too far. One of the leads, Frank, loves to scare people. He’ll hide behind a stack of boxes, jump out of a storage closet, even wait for up to 30 minutes just to get a reaction. Frank finds this hilarious, and a few members of his team seem to as well, but others on his team brought it to my attention saying it makes them feel uneasy and on edge all of the time wondering if he is going to jump out. I’m also concerned that it poses a safety issue as he gets more and more elaborate with his hiding and scaring. How do you recommend dealing with this without Frank thinking his reports are spoilsports?  

Answer:

I love that your team likes to joke and have fun! That's likely one of the reasons folks enjoy working there. I'd communicate that to Frank (in a private coaching conversation) but also let him know that you need to bring to his attention a workplace and safety concern. Let him know that some employees feel anxious and distracted waiting for the next scare. Acknowledge that his intent is to keep things light and explain that the impact on employees and potential safety risks outweigh the humor. Keep the focus on the behavior, not on who complained, and make it clear that hiding, jump scares, and startling employees need to stop. Encourage him to continue building team camaraderie in ways that are inclusive, professional, and don't make employees feel uneasy.

Do you have questions for our advisors? Our HR Hotline and Advisor Chat are available for members from 8am - 4pm PT Monday - Friday. Not yet a member? Get in touch.