Q: Because the weather is getting hotter, I have some employees who are starting to dress inappropriately for work. Clients regularly come into the office and I want my staff to portray a professional image. What can I do?
A: Understandably, employers want to set a good image of their organisation and it is perfectly legitimate for employers to tell employees to dress in a particular way at work. Employees’ appearance no doubt contributes to that image, and wayward employees can create an awkward situa—tion if they do not maintain the professional ethos of the workplace.
A good place to start would be to implement a dress code policy that provides rules on dress and appearance. This will probably mean different rules for men and women.
As long as dress codes are fair handed and fit within the conventions of society, you are unlikely to run any risk of sex discrimination. Different treatment between the sexes does not automatically mean inequality.
Requiring women to wear skirts, however, may cause complaints of indirect religious discrimination, because in some religions it is frowned upon for females to dress in this way. It may be best, therefore, to try to avoid this stipulation.
The next time an employee comes into work in clothes not meeting your standards, a quiet word may be the best course of actionEnsure all of your employees are made aware of the dress code policy and have the opportunity to read it for themselves. You should also include a confirmation that failure to follow the rules of the policy may result in disciplinary action. This way, your employees know that this issue is taken seriously, and it also makes them aware of the consequences of non-compliance.
If, after the implementation of the dress code, any employees are found not to be observing the rules of the policy, you may need to take action against them in accordance with said policy.
The next time an employee comes into work in clothes not meeting your standards, a quiet word may be the best course of action.
Remind them of the policy and your expectation that they observe it. Make them aware that further occasions of this kind will result in further discussions between yourselves.
Hopefully, this will be enough to get the employee back on track. If, however, the same happens again, you may wish to consider beginning a formal disciplinary procedure for continued lack of observation of company rules.
There may well be reasons for the appearance of the employee and these should be considered before deciding on which action to take.
However, be careful to show consistency when dealing with any incident of this kind – you should not show favour to one individual over another.
Peter Done is managing director of law firm Peninsula
