Janna Steinthorson, CHRP

When I first started working in the business world, my favourite day of the work was always Friday.  Not because I didn’t enjoy the work I was doing but I did enjoy taking advantage of “Casual Friday.”  I always enjoyed having that one day a week that I could wear some jeans and a dressier shirt that was still more comfy than my usual collared shirts or blazers.

Organizations should have a dress code that is business related (if required), promotes the company’s image and complies with customers needs and wishes.  So can a business’ dress code policy actually prohibit employees from wearing jeans, short skirts, hoodies and flip-flops?  Or even tattoos, piercings or eccentric hairstyles?  Generally and legally speaking, yes, employers do hold this right but there are certain cautionary recommendations. 

A common question today is where to allow tattoos and piercings in the workplace.  Under the law, employees have no legal right to show body art in the workplace as it isn’t considered a religious or racial expression.  While employers do have the legal right to request employees to reasonably cover up tattoos or piercings, the best approach is to base your policy on the nature of your workplace and set the standards accordingly.  Do your employees have to face customers on a daily basis or is it a call centre where employees never see their customers.

It does make sense for employers that regularly interact with the public, to have a strict dress code policy but the most important thing is to be consistent with its application, unless of course you have good business reasons.  For example, any employees that work with the public must dress business casual but employees that do not (ie warehouse, maintenance, etc) are able to wear jeans and protective footwear.

Discrimination claims can be the result of in ill thought-out policy. Providing a policy for women but not men or one ethnic group versus another can cause a very unwelcome discrimination case.  Typically, in order to implement a policy that won’t discriminate against ethnic groups, keep in mind that you may only be able to restrict ethnic clothing if you can show that accommodating would cause undue hardship to the company or if it’s a safety-sensitive environment where personal protective equipment is required.  It doesn’t hurt to get some legal advice, if you think your policy may touch on some potentially discriminatory points.

And what about scents? Quite a few places now have “Scent Free” work environments to assist employees with allergies.  Some scents can just be plain bothersome to employees, while with others it can cause serious medical conditions such as skin reactions, respiratory problems and migraines.  Again, be consistent with this policy. If it’s not required for all employees in every department, at lease notify all employees of areas or departments that they must abide by the policy.

It appears that most employers still do have dress codes, whether they are formal or informal.  If you plan to enforce or develop a dress code policy, it should be formalized in writing in case you ever need to use to for disciplinary purposes.  It’s also critical to communicate to all employees and make sure it’s being applied consistently. Finally, ensure that employees are consistently disciplined for any violations of the guidelines.  So whether or not you decide a dress code is necessary for your organization, make sure that your employees are representing the image that you want to demonstrate for your organization.

About the Author:
Janna Steinthorson, CHRP, is responsible for the communications portfolio on the Central Interior Advisory Council.