Today, many self-respecting companies introduce a corporate dress code. It may differ for men and women or include only general principles of office attire. In our country, this is not given much importance, except in large companies where many employees work. In turn, in European and American companies the dress code has long become commonplace. However, not many people know how legal it is to set certain boundaries for employees and whether it is possible to use corporate image rules to get rid of an unwanted employee.
How dress codes are used to provoke employee resignations
An egregious incident occurred in the UK quite recently. Nicola Thorpe, who faithfully worked as a secretary for the benefit of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), was fired for non-compliance with corporate dress codes. The girl created a scandal out of this event and posted a call for changing the dress code on the parliament website.
The conflict broke out because the girl refused to wear high heels to the office. It should be noted that under British law, a company can establish any rules for the compliance of clothing with corporate goals. But the girl did not want to wear heels and appealed to a higher authority to have the absurd clause removed from the company’s charter.
Important! The British Parliament accepts for consideration only those issues that have received more than 100 thousand signatures from concerned citizens.
In the first days after its publication, the call received more than 124 thousand votes. In turn, the head of the company said that they had revised the rules of the office dress code. It must be said that in Britain, absurd requirements for appearance are often used to get rid of an unwanted employee or simply because of the whim of the authorities. Apparently, this is exactly what happened to Nicola Thorpe.
Such cases have also happened in our country. For example, a couple of years ago, the administrator of one of the McDonald's restaurants reprimanded and imposed a fine for the fact that the employee was in his work uniform on the street before the start of the working day. It turns out that according to internal regulations this cannot be allowed.
The young man filed a lawsuit, justifying his behavior by the fact that the restaurant administration obliged employees to store their uniforms at home, but did not provide a comfortable room for changing clothes at work. I note that the young man lost the lawsuit. The judiciary considered the punishment deserved.
These cases suggest that the management of any company can set a dress code in accordance with their internal beliefs and demand absolute compliance with it. In most cases, the rules are standard and provide sufficient freedom of action in terms of clothing.But there are also cases of strange behavior by company management regarding the clothing of employees at work.
Brief information: what requirements must a company's dress code meet?
Management should clearly establish in the charter or corporate rules what type of dress is acceptable in the workplace. Are there any restrictions on color, style and other parameters of the outfit?
All clothing worn by employees of any company is divided into three types:
- special clothing;
- uniform;
- clothing that meets specific management requirements.
In relation to the first two points, employers have the right to demand strict compliance with the rules. This is due to the fact that uniforms or workwear most often comply with safety regulations or support the corporate style of the company.
Regarding the third point, it is quite difficult to make demands on an employee. Usually rather vague frames are set. For example, for men and women, a classic style of clothing is established, where there is a white top and a black bottom. Within the framework of these standards, a person can dress as he wants, the main thing is that the rules are followed. You can choose different styles of skirts or blouses to highlight your individuality, but not violate generally accepted rules.
It must be said that many employers have already moved away from office cliches and give their employees some freedom. For example, quite often it is allowed to wear clothes of different colors, but in calm shades. Also, companies often introduce so-called “weekends”, when all employees can come in the clothes they like.
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