Warm weather’s finally here, and with it comes more employee skin, tattoos, and piercings than you ever wanted to see. But as you already know, there’s nothing casual about crafting an effective workplace dress code policy.
More than a decade ago, business began to implement the dress code policy of “Casual Friday.”
Employers back then felt that loosening the rigid standards of past years would improve morale, and that workers would have the good judgment to replace coats and ties, skirts and blouses, with equally tasteful (though less formal) attire.
Buried by micro-minis, halter tops, T-shirts with controversial messages, and ripped jeans, not to mention legal disputes over disciplining employees who wore them, some companies are now backtracking off this trend. And they’re probably ruing the day they created a dress code policy without fully thinking through its implications.
This coming Tuesday, June 14, ERI will present a special webinar looking at the issues your company needs to address in a dress code. The 90-minute session is called Dress Codes in California: How To Deal with Tattoos, Piercings, and the Scantily Clad Without Inviting Lawsuits.
Create a dress code that’s both legal and enforceable. A June 14 special webinar tells you how. Can’t attend? Preorder the CD. Read more.
–The Generational Issue. Good taste in dress is in the eye of the beholder, but these days, there are four sets of beholders in many workplaces, representing four generations of workers. Your oldest employees likely hold to a traditional sense of dress, and while outnumbered by younger workers at most companies, they often hold the senior positions. While 90 percent of your workers may think jeans at work are just dandy, it takes only one vote by the 65-year-old CEO, and the nays have it. Bottom line: You must adopt a policy that all generations can live with.
–The Legal Issues. Labor law says little about dress codes but a lot about discriminating in how you treat employees, especially in protected groups. Your dress policy must respect health needs and the customs of religion and national origin, must not put burdens on one gender more than the other, and must both be consistently applied and based on good business reasons. Anything less invites the kind of suit you don’t wear. Dress code discrimination cases have made it to the highest appellate courts. And while such cases have a poor record of success, the costs of defending your position can be massive.
–The “Professionalism” Issue. Many dress codes merely insist that employees appear professional, but these days there seems no generally accepted agreement on what professional is. Watch the news. You’ll even see President Obama appearing tieless sometimes — something seldom seen of U.S. presidents in decades past.
Can’t attend the June 14 webinar on structuring a legal dress code? Preorder the CD! Click here.
–The Implementation Issue. Any policy must include provision for what happens to violators. It used to be a simple matter of sending an inappropriately dressed worker home to change, but these days home may be a 90-minute ride away. Consider also how to handle repeat violators, and what to do about employees whose intentions are innocent and who see their personal style as flattering, even as others are offended or embarrassed.
The webinar presenter, noted attorney Grace Y. Horoupian, will address all these issues, filling in the details and examples that will help you relate general principles to your specific situation. And the presentation will be followed by an extensive Q & A to provide personal answers to your phoned-in or e-mailed questions. We recommend you attend, or if June 14 is not convenient, preorder a CD of the session.
You can do either by clicking on the link below.
Stressed Over How Your Employees Dress?
If you feel the way your workers dress is damaging the image of your business, you need a dress code. But first you need to know the legalities involved. Learn them at a special ERI June 14 webinar on creating a legal, workable dress code policy. Can’t attend? Preorder the CD. Read more.
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As the mercury rises, so does the amount of skin (and tattoos…and piercings…and other unmentionables) your employees have on display. You won’t want to miss this webinar.
As the mercury rises, so does the amount of skin (and tattoos…and piercings…and other unmentionables) your employees have on display. You won’t want to miss this webinar.