Dress code issues

[chief04010]

I was listening to the Today Show and heard a segment about interns being fired for challenging a dress code. One of the hosts made the statement that when she was an intern she was told to dress for the job that you wanted not for the job that you have, that's when I realized that if I followed that advice I would show up at work in a t-shirt shorts and sandals since the job I really want is retiree.

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[RockyMtn]

my retiree dress code is t shirt, shorts, flip flops. Sometimes in summer I ditch the shirt! Socks...only for golf. Record so far without wearing socks for anything but golf is seven months!

 

[cathy63]

They must have been talking about Ask A Manager. I read her blog pretty regularly. Here's the post about the interns who petitioned to have the dress code changed: I was fired from my internship for writing a proposal for a more flexible dress code — Ask a Manager

 

[Senator]

I have worn jeans virtually every day for the past 10+ years at my j*b. Mostly with a collared and long sleeve shirt.

We have casual dress on Friday, and "jeans stickers" purchased for a United Way cause. I do not buy stickers. I wear jeans. My standard response was they can fire me if they do not like it.

I am sure an attorney would have a field day going after a company that said one person's dress was appropriate and another's not. A dress code is near impossible to enforce these days, and if taken to Court would almost 100% certainly lose.

 

[Aerides]

If you read the entire story.. the big picture is less about getting fired over a dress code, than being fired for being ridiculous.

A group of new summer unpaid interns arranged a petition to the firm management to abolish the code citing unfair exceptions, etc.

I think I'd have let the lot of them go as well, or at least been quite tempted, and certain not to offer them paid positions at the end of the internship.

 

[RonBoyd]

I would show up at work in a t-shirt shorts and sandals ...

Is this you?

 

[jollystomper]

The interns forgot the basic rule of "make yourself valuable first, before you make waves."

 

[Nemo2]

The interns forgot the basic rule of "make yourself valuable first, before you make waves."

+1 (They tell me) it's amazing what you can get away with if you're indispensable.

Decades upon decades ago, an old manager, who transferred into sales from marketing, told of a PR writer who was, apparently, brilliant.....he'd come into board meetings, slightly hung over and somewhat disheveled, clutching a container of milk.....no-one said a word.

 

[chief04010]

Is this you?

View attachment 24230

No, I only get dressed up that much when I go to Walmart

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[ExFlyBoy5]

I am sure an attorney would have a field day going after a company that said one person's dress was appropriate and another's not. A dress code is near impossible to enforce these days, and if taken to Court would almost 100% certainly lose.

Yeah, not necessarily. If it's an at-will employment state (like Georgia), unless the employer is doing something against a protected class or is against the law (say safety requirements), then an employer can fire anyone they want, for any or no reason at all. I think some folks forget that a job belongs to an EMPLOYER...not an employee.

When I was still w*rking, I was happy to wear a flight suit everyday. That is the easiet piece of clothing to wear and take care of. And hey...it was nice to wear what is essentially pajamas to w*rk! BUT...the big zipper...remember, you can never trust a man with a 4 foot long zipper!

 

[timo2]

The argument some of our summer intern hires make regarding work attire is that being young college students, they don't have the funds to buy lots of fancy clothes for just a few months a year. So management compromised, and got them to wear nice jeans instead of shorts. and shirts with sleeves instead of spaghetti straps. The interns with the petition obviously just learned (hopefully) how not to negotiate.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The argument some of our summer intern hires make regarding work attire is that being young college students, they don't have the funds to buy lots of fancy clothes for just a few months a year.

Bull. I would love to see the threads they have for going out on a Friday and Saturday night. I've been to the mall before..these kids can't buy ENOUGH clothes. You can buy nice looking clothes without spending a ton of money...this is the unfortunate truth with child labor making it SOOO cheap.

 

[Sue J]

I was in college in the 70's, going for a teaching degree. I think it was our Junior year we had a class that went out to a local elementary school to get some experience teaching in a math class. Our professor arranged who would go to which class and where to meet up for transportation and then she told us that no jeans or shorts were allowed, we needed to dress appropriately. It didn't have to be dresses, slacks were ok, but no jeans. Be clean, no T-shirts, no sweatshirts, wear appropriate shoes, look better than you do coming to class.

The professor heard a few students complaining about not having the right clothes for this and she offered to set up a group trip to Goodwill where she would help them find an outfit.

No one took her up on her offer and everyone showed up for the outing looking appropriate! Now that I look back on this she was an excellent teacher and I loved the class. I remember wearing a nice pair of courdoroy pants and a light sweater and I think I had some casual shoes that were not sneakers.

The story about the interns and the petition about the dress code was interesting! A summer intern complaining about the dress code is just absurd. To address the issue with a petition shows a lack of respect and a very poor attitude. Congratulations to the intern who did not sign the petition and didn't get fired. Hire that one!

 

[Senator]

Yeah, not necessarily. If it's an at-will employment state (like Georgia), unless the employer is doing something against a protected class or is against the law (say safety requirements), then an employer can fire anyone they want, for any or no reason at all. I think some folks forget that a job belongs to an EMPLOYER...not an employee.

They can certainly fire you, but the expense of a lawsuit would be high if it was taken pro-bono by a pro-employee lawyer.

Of course, the government and military can do what they want, they are exempt from many laws.

An employer would be hard pressed to explain how a pair of shorts or jeans was a problem, but a women's dress above the knees was OK. A pair of men's sandals was not OK, but a woman's open toe shoe was OK. Or that some forms of religious clothing was better than a pair of jeans. Or a woman's sleeveless shirt was OK, but my sleeveless shirt was not.'

Just because a piece of clothing is denim, doesn't make it bad.

 

[haha]

An employer would be hard pressed to explain how a pair of shorts or jeans was a problem, but a women's dress above the knees was OK. A pair of men's sandals was not OK, but a woman's open toe shoe was OK. Or that some forms of religious clothing was better than a pair of jeans. Or a woman's sleeveless shirt was OK, but my sleeveless shirt was not.

I think it might be because we like to look at young semi-covered women, but semi dressed men are considered threatening. Myself, I can understand and I see no problem with this.

Ha

 

[Tailgate]

My tan lines on my feet are a direct result of my dress code... I'd post a pic but would be inviting some ugly toe comments....

 

[CaliforniaMan]

I was thinking a while back that my whole life I have pretty much dressed the same. I wore jeans, Levis, in grade school, and except for two years at Jr. High where I wore slacks (I guess trying to impress the girls), and my short 80s stint at cords (all the programmers seemed to be wearing them, and they squeaked when you walked), I went back to jeans and except for shorts in the summer, I have dressed pretty much the same all my life.

Back years ago when there were still dress codes, I remember jeans were banned at a company I consulted for, and where I had an office. I wore jeans every day, nobody ever said anything. Always better to be an outside contractor than an employee.

 

[pacergal]

Their argument was based on seeing ONE person wear shoes that did not follow the dress code. At the end of their firing, they were informed that this employee was a former soldier who had lost her leg and was allowed to wear whatever shoe fit her prothesis.
So, instead of discreetly inquiring to a manger, she got a whole group up in arms to protest. I think they got what they deserved--a very good lesson that things are not always as they seem. Time to grow up!

 

[GravitySucks]

I was listening to the Today Show and heard a segment about interns being fired for challenging a dress code. One of the hosts made the statement that when she was an intern she was told to dress for the job that you wanted not for the job that you have, that's when I realized that if I followed that advice I would show up at work in a t-shirt shorts and sandals since the job I really want is retiree.

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The Cowl and Cape were to uncomfortable after 8 hours.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Their argument was based on seeing ONE person wear shoes that did not follow the dress code. At the end of their firing, they were informed that this employee was a former soldier who had lost her leg and was allowed to wear whatever shoe fit her prothesis.
So, instead of discreetly inquiring to a manger, she got a whole group up in arms to protest. I think they got what they deserved--a very good lesson that things are not always as they seem. Time to grow up!

Well, this goes to prove that being stupid won't get you very far in life.

 

[Sunset]

I worked as a contractor at various places, some allowed jeans, shorts, tanktops, flipflops, etc.
I always wore docker pants , dress shirt (short or longsleeve) and dress shoes.
Once an owner told me I could wear shorts thinking I didn't know of the "benefit" of working there.
He didn't know I preferred the benefit of looking more professional

 

[FUEGO]

Right after I got fired and the new regime took over, they implemented a strict dress code. Ties, collared shirts, dress slacks and dress shoes every day (coat optional unless you were going to a meeting).

I'm glad I got fired just in time. No way I'd want to put a tie on every day, especially those days when I'm mucking it through the mud or climbing through ditches, crawling underneath stuff or standing in the sun in 95 degree weather.

The new boss got fired after a few months and I think the dress code reverted to semi-professional office attire (more relaxed for those who are in the field occasionally).

 

[Ronstar]

We had a dress code in our engineering office. No jeans, collared shirts. Field people could wear jeans, t shirts, and shorts in the summer. Although I was in the office, I wore jeans most of the time due to the frequent field visits I made. I don't remember anyone being told that we had a dress code. I don't think it was written anywhere. New hires seemed to just dress like everyone else to be safe.


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[Car-Guy]

I worked at two fortune 10 Mega corps in my career. Mega corp 1 allowed jeans and collared T shirts but there was a lot of field work involved there. When I started at Mega corp 2, it was coat and tie for most everyone that worked in the office environment. After about 10 years at Mega corp 2, they relaxed the policy to allow business casual but managers over a certain level were still expected to wear a coat and tie. By the time I retired even most managers were going business casual company wide, unless they worked at the corporate HQ or were meeting with an outside company.

I could absolutely "sense" a change in the level of professionalism as the dress codes changed. We still got the work done but not as many "stuffed shirts"

 

[Nemo2]

One of the accounts I serviced, in Toronto, in the late 1970s, was the head office of Denison Mines - the president, since deceased, was a real stickler for dress codes - no pant suits for women, and suits for men. The guys were permitted to remove their jackets while sitting at their desks, (and drape the jackets over their chairs), but if they were to get up from their desks for any reason the jacket had to go back on.