HR Alert - Dressing Down

Virgin Rail uniforms hit the headlines some time ago, as some female employees refused to wear the “skimpy” and “revealing” blouses, claiming passengers would be able to see any dark underwear worn underneath. The official uniform launch was delayed by three weeks in order to allow staff “to have a uniform they felt comfortable in”, and to help achieve this, any concerned employees were offered a £20 clothing voucher to buy 'suitable underwear'. This may have been more of a publicity stunt and/or the result of buying cheap products, but there was a potentially serious issue behind this dispute.

Rosalie Collins, our BackupHR Consultant comments:

The imposition of disparate dress codes can lead to sex discrimination claims.  The leading 1996 case determined that a standard of dress imposed by an employer on its employees does not have to be identical, item for item, for men and women, but it must require the same overall standard of conventionality for both sexes.

However, conventions do change, and in a more recent case, a Muslim cocktail waitress was awarded £3,000 in compensation after being found to have been discriminated against because her employers had forced her to wear a tight-fitting red dress during the summer months at work. As her male colleagues were not required to wear similar “brightly coloured, figure hugging” outfits, it was decided that the dress code related to her sex and as such, was gender specific, so discriminatory.

The main lesson though is it is good management practice to genuinely seek the opinions of your employees when requiring dress codes.  Just because the law appears to be employer friendly, does not mean that employees will wear uniforms with pride and they still have the means of legal redress.

If an employer requires some or all of their workforce to wear specific clothing or to dress in a certain way, then this must be clearly stated as part of the terms and conditions of employment and communicated out to new employees as part of the on-boarding process.

BackupHR can provide a range of appropriate in person training for Managers, which will demonstrate that the employer has taken a key reasonable step regarding the new preventative duty.  While e-learning training modules are a quicker and cheaper option, live interactivity with a trainer really helps to effectively improve learning especially when the training needs to teach people to understand and, if necessary, change their conduct. Being able to directly ask questions, participate in group activities and listen to their peers as part of the training process will make a real difference in reducing the risk of harassment and bullying incidents.  

The guidance provided in this article is just that - guidance. Before taking any action make sure that you know what you are doing, or call us for specific advice.