Summer Clothing Issues

“As the weather gets warmer, I’m seeing my employees wear clothes to work that seem inappropriate. What can or can’t I say to them?”

My HR Survival Tip

It’s true that people shed their clothes as things heat up and this makes it challenging for employers.

You have the right to specify what you will and won’t allow in the workplace. The only thing you usually need to be careful about is discrimination by having different rules for different types of employees without a good reason. For example, employees who are visible to clients may have a different dress code than employees working in the warehouse. However, different rules for men versus women could easily be discriminatory.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Tattoos — You can state no one can show a tattoo. Employees who have a tattoo may be required to wear long sleeves on even the hottest days if you don’t want tattoos to be visible.
• Jewelry — You can limit the size and number and placement of jewelry, particularly if safety is a concern. Just because they chose to have 50 facial piercings doesn’t mean you need to allow them to wear something in each piercing.
• Clothing — You can state no low-cut tops, no shorts, no cut-offs, no tank tops, no T-shirts with a potentially offensive design, nothing see-through, no jeans, etc. Keep it generic enough to easily apply to men or women.
• Shoes — You can state no flip flops, no sandals, no bare feet, etc. If you push for a specific shoe, it may fall into the category of a uniform and need to be provided by you.
• Hair — You can state hair should be off the neck, a natural-looking color, and clean.

Recent controversy about religious attire makes it an area where you want to be particularly careful and have a conversation with your employee. As long as they feel they are wearing something for their religion, you want to let them unless what they are wearing poses a safety concern. Don’t immediately react based on what YOU believe. Talk with an attorney if this is still an issue.

Your employees want to be comfortable but you need to worry about the professionalism of your workplace. Overall, use common sense to find a happy medium.