Any office worker could tell you about their love/hate relationship with office parties. They can be uncomfortable, but they make for some good memories, whether funny or awkward. From unknowingly flirting with the boss’s wife to making out with a co-worker only for the whole office to see, we’ve compiled a list of the most embarrassing office party fails ever!
So He’s the Jerk
One of the worst things that can happen to you in the office is having a bad boss. Your boss has enough power and influence that a bad one makes everything harder to deal with.
Imagine complaining about your boss within earshot of your kid, and then this slips out at the office Christmas party. We need to know what the boss’s reaction was to her little outburst. Hopefully, he’s a boss with a sense of humor!
A Friendly Slap
Have you ever been chatting with someone and gone to pat their arm or their back, just for them to move and you accidentally touch them somewhere inappropriate? Or maybe you’ve accidentally hit them because of it.
It sounds like this guy has got some pretty poor reaction times. He should probably get his reflexes checked or his poor boss will keep suffering from accidental slaps. At least it gave everyone at the office party something to talk about.
Tan in a Can
Let’s throw it back to the early 2000s. The Hills was on TV, girls were layering their lacy tank tops like there was no tomorrow, and everyone was obsessed with spray tans.
Flash forward to 2016 — when someone actually thought a can of spray tan was a good gift, and the one person who definitely didn’t need it was the one who got it. We bet he threw that can back in 2006 where it belonged.
That’s the Boss’s Wife
Office parties mean people bringing their partners, and people bringing their partners means strangers at the office. But, strangers at the office doesn’t mean that you can just start flirting with them willy-nilly.
You have to assume that the person you’re talking to was brought by someone they’re in a relationship with, so be careful with that liquid courage and bottle it up for another occasion, or you’ll end up flirting with the boss’s wife — like this guy did!
Ugly Xmas Sweater Party
Ugly Christmas sweaters are a pretty weird phenomenon. Something that originally started as a clothing item not intended to be ugly but widely mocked became a holiday party trend. So much so, in fact, that some people even buy ugly Halloween sweaters now.
What’s not pleasant is being told your sweater is ugly when you definitely didn’t intend for it to be. Did the award at least come with some adult beverages for this person to drown their sorrows a little?
Ate One by Herself
Pizza is one of those foods that you can finish off on your own. You only share it because you feel like you have to. So, imagine having to share two pizzas between 15 people.
And to make matters worse, your boss decides to eat one entirely on her own, leaving only one pizza for 14 people! It sounds like her boss is a very selfish person, or was just extremely hungry. She better have ordered another pizza afterward.
Fell Into the Punch Bowl
A lot of offices straight up refuse to have adult beverages at office parties, and you can’t really blame them. People struggle to control themselves and get very silly very quickly, causing all sorts of chaos.
But, then there are those employees who are so clumsy that they wreak havoc without even trying, like this poor woman. She went straight to the store afterward and demanded a refund on those faulty high heels — at least, that’s what she should have done.
Boss’s New Girlfriend
Relationships fail. It’s just an inevitability. Sometimes, we are too different to make it work — other times, the relationship is toxic and unhealthy. And one of the worst things you can do as a friend is start dating the other person’s ex.
But our bosses aren’t our friends, so they apparently have no problems jumping into a relationship with our exes, like poor Tim here learned at the office party. This probably wasn’t the first time the boss man had done this.
10 Tasty Cucumbers
Let’s be honest — no one actually enjoys office Secret Santa gift exchanges. You end up buying people small items that they simply don’t need, and usually don’t even want. So, when this employee was forced to participate, he decided to have a sense of humor.
This was honestly probably the most useful gift out of the ones given in the office that day! That person had a week or two of tasty cucumber salads and cucumber water.
Couldn’t Find the Last Guy
Sometimes, an office party means enjoying things you liked when you were a kid. That may mean dancing on your desk, or it could mean playing hide-and-seek with all of your coworkers.
This guy is the king of hide-and-seek! How did he even get up there in the first place? We have so many questions, but mostly we’re just impressed with his hiding skills. He must have had a hard time not giggling as they wandered around confused.
Mandatory Office Party
Some offices just don’t have a good environment, no matter how hard some working there may try. It could be because of a toxic boss, or that the employees have very different personalities and just don’t get along in that way.
If you have to make an office party mandatory to get employees to attend, maybe you just shouldn’t throw one. The whole point is to reward employees, but they clearly don’t want to go, which points to some bad office politics.
Opened the Wrong Bottle
Although it’s hard to believe for many of us, there are people out there with cellars full of expensive bottles of various drinks. Some like to collect them, and others keep them for very special occasions.
The boss probably wouldn’t consider an office Christmas party a special occasion for using a $10,000 bottle. But, why did the boss leave such an expensive bottle somewhere where a coworker could find it so easily?
Another Employee’s Child
Do you struggle to reach the higher shelves in your kitchen and need to use a step stool? Do people constantly offer to help you get something up high at the grocery store? If you answered yes, odds are you’re a short person.
Odds are even higher that you’ve been mistaken for a kid or a teenager at least once in your adult life, like Kate here experienced at the office Christmas party. You just have to shrug it off.
Holding Your Crying Boss’s Hair
When certain types of beverages, or “fun in a cup” are involved in office parties, things can go from fun to sour very quickly. It also tends to bring out the emotional side in people, including your boss.
This is really sad and also must have been so uncomfortable for the employee. If she and her boss weren’t exactly close, we bet things were very awkward when everyone returned to the office post holidays!
Decided Not to Go
No matter how much you enjoy your job, you must just not want to go to an office party. You’re tired, you have other things to do, or you just don’t like your coworkers enough to spend time with them outside of work.
Not going may be the right choice for some, but it seems it wasn’t for this employee. They better have at least saved her a gift card while she was in the emergency room dealing with her broken toes.
Babe in the Green Dress
A classic sign of having had one too many fun drinks is struggling to see things clearly. Sometimes, your vision blurs so much that you mistake rubber Christmas trees for beautiful women.
Oh, it’s never happened to you? Well, that must mean that you just haven’t had enough fun drinks before, which is probably a good thing. Then, you won’t embarrass yourself at the office party as badly as this boss did.
Red Shirt, Black Tie
Have you ever seen a scene in a movie or TV show where someone shows up dressed just like the wait staff that the caterer brought to the party? Well, it turns out that actually does happen in real life.
This is just really bad luck, but he could have taken advantage of the situation by messing with his coworkers a bit. It’s sad that one of his colleagues didn’t recognize him as a fellow employee.
Sliding Glass Door
Big glass doors and windows are the worst. If they’re kept clean and in a spot where the light hits them just right, it’s so easy to believe that there’s nothing there at all.
This person learned that the hard way multiple times. We wonder if they’d had a few fun drinks to make this mistake multiple times, or if they just have a really bad memory. Either way, at least it was entertaining for everyone else to watch.
Infamous Banana Protector
When you’re walking around in a place like Walmart, there are a lot of little gadgets in the aisles that make you say, “Ah, that’s clever.” But, you’d never buy them because there’s just no point in owning one.
A banana protector is one of those items. Its peel already protects it, and if you’re worried about it getting all over your bag, it’s probably too mushy to take with you. We aren’t surprised this made its rounds at the office.
Projected on the Big Screen
Sometimes, things at the office party get steamy. Everyone has a few adult beverages, and next thing you know, those two coworkers that have spent months flirting with each other suddenly disappear.
Why would someone be filming what’s going on behind the conference stage at an office party? This one sounds a bit fishy to us. On stage, sure, but behind stage? It’s like they wanted to catch employees doing something!
Sweater With My Boss
There are a small minority of employees out there who are lucky enough to have a really great boss. They feel comfortable joking around with them, and even making fun of them at the office party — like Ella did.
So, she went through the effort to get a photo of her boss and have it printed on a sweater? She must really trust her boss’s sense of humor. We hope she took it off and gave it to the boss afterward.
Didn’t Get Invited
Unfortunately, no matter how hard you work to get people to like you, there will always be people who don’t. But, it’s even more unfortunate when those who don’t like you are your own coworkers.
It’s pretty rude to throw an office party and leave employees out of it, especially if the party is actually taking place at the office. Don’t take it too personally, Jon. They just don’t sound like nice people.