Many offices do something fun around the classic bank holidays, such as Christmas and the Fourth of July. But you don’t have to wait for these major holidays in order to have an excuse to celebrate at the office. Literally every day is some kind of holiday, and many of these are work or office related, making them the perfect excuse to have some fun while on the clock. Here’s a sample of 11 perfect holidays to celebrate at the office besides the classics:
- National Clean Off Your Desk Day
Get the new year started off right with National Clean Off Your Desk Day, which takes place on the second Monday in January. Encourage everyone in the office to go through their desk and donate, recycle, or trash anything they haven’t used. This is also a great opportunity to sort through the supply closet, kitchen, and other communal areas to clean them up before the year gets fully underway.
- National Have Fun at Work Day
Falling on the last Friday of January, this day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate getting a whole month of work behind you and blow off some steam with your coworkers. Coordinate a day of fun team activities or cater a lunch if you don’t have time to take the whole day off. This is one day at work that your employees will look forward to!
- Clean Out Your Computer Day
Last month you cleaned off your desk; this month clean up your computer! Held on the second Monday in February, Clean Out Your Computer Day is dedicated to basic housekeeping tasks such as purging old files, reorganizing your documents, and downloading any pending updates. If your office has been putting off a bunch of software updates, this is the perfect day to do it as a team and take the downtime to socialize.
- Employee Appreciation Day
Your employees deserve accolades for all their hard work, and Employee Appreciation Day is the perfect excuse to recognize them. This holiday falls on the first Monday of March, so be sure to plan ahead so that you are ready to celebrate all of them. Some options include having an internal awards show for your employees, giving them customized plaques in branded gift boxes, or posting about them publicly on your company social media accounts (with their permission, of course).
- Virtual Vacation Day
If you can’t take a real vacation, then take a virtual one on March 30th, which is Virtual Vacation Day. Host a contest to have everyone decorate their office like their dream destination and award fun prizes, like bulk gifts under $5, to the people who get voted best decorations. This is also a great opportunity to remind employees to use their hard-earned PTO on a real vacation before the year is over.
- Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day
De-stress after Tax Day with Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, which always happens the day after taxes are due. Encourage everyone to wear (office appropriate) pajamas that day in honor of the holiday. If you have external meetings that you can’t wear pajamas to, try to schedule those for the morning and then change for the afternoon.
- Take Your Child to Work Day
This classic office holiday is observed on the third Thursday in April. Not everyone will have kids who can skip out on school, but for those who can bring their kids into the office it can be a really educational experience for them to see what a real adult job is like. Do note that their parents might want to only bring their kids in for a half day since kids might not have the stamina to last an entire day at the office yet.
- Leave the Office Early Day
Now this is one holiday that your employees will be totally happy to celebrate with you. Leave the Office Early Day is usually celebrated on June 2nd, unless that falls on a weekend, in which case it will be celebrated on either June 1st or June 3rd — whichever is the first business day in June. See who can complete their work for the day as fast as possible and commit to closing the entire office early.
- National Take Your Dog to Work Day
Celebrated on the Friday following Father’s Day, this just might be everyone’s favorite office holiday. After confirming that no one is allergic to dogs, ask employees with pups to bring them in for the day so everyone can benefit. You might be surprised what a difference puppy cuddles make for team morale!
- Fight Procrastination Day
September 6th is the perfect day to take care of all those work tasks that you have been putting off because it’s Fight Procrastination Day. Make a list of all the small tasks that your team has never followed through on and devote the day to checking them off the list. Every time you get a set number of tasks done as a group, take a break to reward yourselves with a nice promotional gift or a fun icebreaker game, and then get back to work.
- National Boss’s Day
You dedicated an entire day to celebrating employees, so now it’s time for them to return the favor on National Boss’s Day, which takes place on October 16. If you have an especially great manager, show them that you appreciate all their behind the scenes help by giving them a gift, taking them out for lunch, or doing some other nice gesture.
There are many other work-related holidays that we didn’t have room to mention on this list, and there are tons of non-work holidays that you can still celebrate at the office, such as National Donut Day. Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments!
