Employment Law SOS: Keeping up appearances

It is possible to insist that employees maintain a certain standard of dress and appearance at work. However, in order to avoid complaints that particular employees are being victimised or treated unfairly, it is advisable to do this by introducing a dress code for all employees in the relevant department(s). Implementing a dress code within the workplace is not unusual and is often done where employees are coming into contact with customers. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that the dress code (and the way it is applied) does not directly or indirectly discriminate against particular groups of employees. For example, requiring employees to dress or modify their personal appearance in a particular way can impact upon certain religious and cultural sensitivities. Employers should not forbid items of dress that are dictated by race, religion or ethnic origin, as indirect religious or racial discrimination may occur if a dress code is incompatible with such traditions/beliefs, unless the dress code can be objectively justified (for example, on health and safety grounds). Equally, applying a dress code more strictly to one sex than the other could amount to direct sex discrimination. Employers do not have to impose exactly the same dress code on men and women, but they should insist on a common principle of acceptable dress and appearance in order to be seen as applying a fair and even-handed approach. It is sensible to implement a clear, formal policy, setting out the dress code and the reasons for its introduction in order to reduce the scope for complaints or misunderstanding.