How to Handle Sensitive Dress Code Issues without Getting Sued

August 31, 2018

Author: Russel Stuart

The workplace dress code is one of the many areas that elicit a rather mixed reaction from people. When it is one’s own home, one need not be too worried about what to wear. When one is attending receptions or other get togethers, the dress code matters, but not to the extent it does at the workplace.

The workplace is where we not only make our careers, but also interact with colleagues and others from other organizations and walks of life. What we wear reflects on our sartorial tastes; it also reflects the attitude we bring to work. The dress we wear shows the way we think about the workplace and our approach to work.

Many people think that the dress need not be synonymous with attitudes, because the work we do matters more than what we wear at work. While this is true, it is also true that our dress being in large part being representative of our attitude; it is necessary to be prudent and sensitive to others’ feelings while deciding what to wear. If the dress we wear to work were not something of importance; where was the need for organizations to bring in something called the dress code?

The law about dress code

The US doesn’t have a legal set of requirements for regulating the dress code at the workplace. In other words, no employee can be forced to wear certain kinds of dress. In fact, on the contrary, public and judicial opinion is in favor of deregulating the dress code. Now, this is the catch. If an employee cannot be forced to wear a certain kind of dress to the workplace, by the same token, can the employee take action against an employee for wearing a dress of her choice? What is the definition of a permissible dress code? Can the employee take the employer to court for not permitting her or objecting to a certain dress?

These are some of the prickly issues relating to workplace dress code. This is an area that HR has to handle with tact, since it is they who come across issues concerning the dress code at the organization. HR needs to be intuitive and legally compliant in devising ways by which such issues can be handled.