Summer is still a few months away, but in Phoenix, smoking hot temperatures are just around the corner.
As the thermometer rises, it can be very easy to break a sweat just walking from your car to your office building. On the weekends, it's all about shorts and swimsuits. However, choosing appropriate, but cool clothing for Monday through Friday can be a challenge.
Many employees and employers find themselves asking the question "How hot is too hot?" If your employees are not required to wear a uniform to the office and there is no official dress code that they must follow, a lot can be left up to personal interpretation.
Here are several suggestions that can help employers keep the peace and employees stay cool when the mercury is on the rise:
- Come up with a dress code policy– First consider what you are trying to achieve through a corporate dress code. Do you want employees to maintain a certain look, wear clothes that are not provocative, or always wear clothing that will keep them safe from any potential work-related accidents? Best practice is to have a year-round policy that is enforced without regard to outside temperatures.
- Be specific on expectations- Prohibit specific types of clothing i.e. shorts, crop tops, sleeveless tops, torn clothing, and/or clothing with see-through materials. Include enough information so that an average employee can understand what the "do's and don'ts" are, but not so much as to render it confusing or discourage employees from actually reading the policy.
- Maintain a level of professionalism- Always be professional and tactful in addressing employee dress code violations. Don't criticize the employee's taste, fashion sense, or physical characteristics. Instead, explain how the employee's attire is unacceptable under the policy. Recently in Pennsylvania, an employee's sexual harassment and retaliation claims survived summary judgment when a supervisor told the employee that although her clothing did not actually violate the dress code, another employee found "her body offensive" and that "her breasts were too large for her attire."
- Make it applicable to the masses- Always ensure the dress code policy is applied uniformly without regard to protected characteristics such as sex, religion or race. However, be aware that employees may be entitled to reasonable accommodations to the dress code for a variety of reasons including religion, disability or disparate impact.
Originally published by Phoenix Business Journal on April 1, 2014.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.