Employee dress code policies have been around for a long time, whether it be employees having to wear uniforms or to be suited and booted. More recently, perhaps with the changing relaxed attitude in work culture, employee dress codes have become slightly more flexible, which in turn may create a whole new set of issues.

In a casual environment, it’s important to let staff know what will or won’t be accepted in regards to work attire. If the company has a more formal business dress expectation, it is even more essential to explain the why the policy is in place.

Just about any rule is acceptable, as long as it doesn't infringe on laws against discrimination or harassment, in which claims do occasionally arise from. Discrimination claims can be related to sex or gender, religion, or race, and although an employer will most likely have a dress code policy addressing all of those elements, it’s important to get some HR and legal advice just to be confident that all bases are covered.

In this post, I have included some information on workplace dress codes and how to avoid complications when creating and implementing policies.


Sexual Harassment

If employees are asked to dress in revealing or provocative clothing, a company may be accused of sexualising their employees or even encouraging others, for example customers or other employees to harass them. Courts may differ on what exactly constitutes as sexual harassment in regards to clothing, however companies who risk asking female staff to wear short skirts or male employees to wear tight t-shirts or go topless are walking a thin line.

From another point of view, it’s also important that the company isn’t liable for the actions or clothing of their staff in regards to harassment or discrimination. Clothing that has suggestive words or pictures that may be considered unpleasant to other staff members must be treated as unacceptable.


Sex Discrimination

As a general principal, clothing and grooming standards set should be as applicable to both male and female employees as possible. This could simply be ensuring that male employees have to wear shirt and ties and female employees have to wear similar attire, such as a shirt and tailored suit. However, this can also become more complicated, if an employer decides that whilst female staff members can wear their hair long, males are required to wear theirs short.

Generally speaking, an employer may face a discrimination case if the dress code isn’t established on social standards, differs greatly between men and women, or imposes a greater burden on one sex in particular.


Religious Discrimination

It’s imperative for businesses to remember that employees from ethnic minorities need to be able to conform to company standards, whilst also respecting their religious beliefs and obligations, for example, some Muslims must wear beards and particular garments. If a company dress code forces employees to violate religious beliefs, they may be leaving itself open to claims of religious discrimination.

However, this does not mean that a business has to abandon all of its dress and grooming rules. If there is a valid reason for having a policy in place, then an employer does not have to accommodate the employee. For example, certain religious garments may pose a legitimate safety threat when operating machinery and certain hairstyles may be unhealthy in a food service context if employees refuse to wear hair nets or beard nets.


Disability Discrimination

Employees with disabilities often need to comply with the same dress requirements as other employees, such as wearing formal attire alongside other employees. There may be times, however, that an employee’s disability prevents them from being able to fulfil dress code requirements, and therefore if an employer is asked to modify the policy due to a disability, they must accommodate the request if possible.


Tattoos and Body Piercings

An increasingly common issue that many employers are facing is whether to allow tattoos and body piercings in the workplace. Legally, employees don’t have a say in whether they can show body art in the workplace or not due to the fact that it’s not considered a religious or racial expression.

Legally, employers can ask employees to cover tattoos or remove piercings; however a practical approach is advisable when considering company policies to place grooming criteria accordingly.

When creating any dress code policy, employers should be aware of the particular requirements of the job and the business as well as safety and health considerations.

So what should your dress code policy include?

• Guidelines on what is and what is not considered appropriate
• Consider including expectations related to employee grooming such as personal appearance and hygiene including the wearing/showing of tattoos, jewellery, hairstyles and facial hair
• Address footwear requirements and guidelines both for males and females
• Be department specific. Warehouse employees shouldn't be required to wear a suit and tie, and your sales department, particularly if they’re meeting clients face-to-face, should be dressed smartly
• Have a strategy in place for handling dress code violation and ensure breaches are included within your disciplinary policy guidelines
  

At the end of the day, common sense and respect for employees are the strongest guidelines when creating a dress code. Employers need to endeavour to treat employees equally, and respect any requirements from employees to alter dress codes according to their needs. It’s vital that all employers address any issues that arise quickly and privately. If an employee wears something inappropriate, or violates the policy in any way, it is important that they are told what the issue is and explained how they are infringing on the dress code. Although it may seem awkward, brand and image are always on the line. 



The contents of this article are necessarily expressed in broad terms and limited to general information rather than detailed analyses or legal advice. Specialist professional advice should always be obtained to address legal and other issues arising in specific contexts.

With today’s world becoming more globalised, businesses, both small and large in any sector, need to maximise the potential of communicating and trading internationally.

The shifting nature of the global business environment as well as how we choose to live and communicate in our personal lives, means that people want more flexibility and choice. Through the acceptance of flexible working, employers enable the development of ideas and innovation, as the common view towards flexibility is that working out of the office is often seen as much more productive.

The workforce tends to be more responsive and better able to react to business even when not in the office, due to the increasing use of mobiles which enable employees to check emails, calls and messages wherever they are.

In fact, smaller businesses who adopt a flexible working approach may also see an improvement in staff motivation as generally employees who are given this sense of freedom are often more committed and more efficient. Flexible working hours can also lead to lower staff absenteeism by making it easier to wait in for household deliveries and nurse sick children or spouses whilst they work.

Flexible working also has positive effects across a company that one might not expect. If employees are working remotely, even for a few days a week, the cost of office overheads, such as utilities, may decrease.

While flexible working may sound like the perfect solution to increasing staff motivation along with decreasing overheads, it’s important to remember that companies, in particular SMEs, need to embrace powerful technology enablers, such as cloud computing, smartphones, video conferencing and shared desktops. Although it may sound a lot, systems are easily put in place, however using them effectively across a team can sometimes be challenging. Ensure ongoing staff training is provided to justify the technology put in place is actually valuable.

Below I have included five steps to introduce flexible working within a business. The length of time a process takes depends on individual teams and the type of business; however flexible working doesn't have to be a black and white process – not all staff members need to work from home all the time.


1. Step Back

Through a number of simple studies you can understand the dynamics of the workplace. Holding employee and leadership interviews with staff and observing staff will quickly give you a clear idea of how the team is functioning and therefore which changes can and should be made.


2. Assemble, Inform and Inspire

Depending on the size of your company, it is helpful to identify key people who will be included in forming a leadership team to start putting flexible working processes in place. Share your goals in increasing workplace productivity, such as use of space, communication and general employee satisfaction to gauge if flexible working will make a difference to your business.


3. Profile Your Employees

Categorise your workforce by employee type through observation and workshops. By doing this you will build a clear view how your company supports four main types of employee: fixed, fixed-mobile, mobile and home workers. Once this has been established, a case for change will be in motion due to shifting the focus of a traditional fixed workplace to a much more flexible team.


4. Make the Transition

Based on your previous observations, define the extent of change needed. Ask yourself questions such as: Is office space, every day, for every employee necessary? Could you work just as effectively, if not more, from smaller offices? Do you have the technology put in place to support your employees in working flexibly? Will they use personal devices for work or be given business equipment, such as laptops and company mobiles? Decisions at this stage will define how changes in space, technology and employee behaviours will all lead to better business due to increased flexibility.


5. Plan for Change

Although short, medium and long term changes will take a while to adjust to, experiencing instant and emerging benefits will help employees adapt to the changes in company culture and new technology. Ensure that all company policies are updated to include flexible working, so every employee knows what is expected from them when they working from home.

Remember, the switch from office based to flexible working will be gradual and success can only transpire if employees are kept engaged and supported throughout the process.


The contents of this article are necessarily expressed in broad terms and limited to general information rather than detailed analyses or legal advice. Specialist professional advice should always be obtained to address legal and other issues arising in specific contexts.

Creators of the Egyptian pyramids understood teams, as did every military leader in recorded history, which is why it’s rather astonishing that the concept of teamwork in business is so recent. Anyone who is interested in history will know that the term “teamwork” wasn't really used in the organisational vernacular until the 1970s. It’s not known why it appeared so late, perhaps the turbulent economy or the shattering of social unity caused researchers to look into why some teams fail and others succeed.

It has been said that two large pizzas should be enough to feed a team. The most popular reasons for using the two-pizza rule is that as well as keeping teams agile and responsive, when teams comprise of a dozen people or less, each member is more likely to care about the others, and are more likely to share information.

As teams scale up, unity tends to come apart. At 100 people or more, team members may get on with each other but they aren't as likely to care about their roles and helping them out to complete a task.

Building an excellent small business team is about more than just employing the correct people. It's important to inspire your team with a vision, nurture their individual talents whilst appreciating their dynamics as a team. A business succeeds when employees invest in its success, so take a read through my tips below to ensure you choose the right people to succeed with:

Be a Thought Leader

Top talent doesn't work for average companies with ineffective brands. The more a company can be positioned as an authority in its industry, the more talent will naturally be attracted to working for it. Thought leaders in an industry share expertise with others, which in turn indicates to potential hires that the company is respected within its field.

Don’t Settle for Mediocre

Employers have a habit of often settling for the first run-of-the-mill person they hire, which in turn, can lead to weaknesses within a team. Once it becomes apparent that a member of the team is performing at a mediocre level, it’s essential to discuss the challenges they are facing as well as letting them know that is there is support for them to do better. If there’s no improvement within a few months, it’s time to find a new person for the team.

Forget the Money…at First

People who have passion for the company they wish to be a part of should be strongly considered when hiring, especially if money is not their number one priority when accepting a job offer. It’s important for employees to be interested in the success of the business, and if all they see are euro signs, their hearts may not really be in it.

Trust is Crucial

An employee may be highly intellectual and work hard, but if there is little or no trust in the working relationship, it’s advisable to let the employee go. Daily operations generally become negatively affected if untrusted employees remain in a workplace.

Personal Lives are Important

We all have personal lives and it is important to recognise employees’ lives outside the workplace. Celebrating team members’ significant moments, such as birthdays or weddings, and supporting them through giving necessary time off, helps build loyalty with them, and they often pay it forward with other members of the team.

Diversity Brings Innovation

Diverse thinkers aid in building a strong team. A range of sexes, ages and races often make a team think outside the box and solve problems from many different viewpoints.

Maintain Systematic Processes

Once success has been achieved in a particular space, it is necessary to create a process that mimics that success time and time again. Whether it is through using check lists in the workplace or adopting the same successful approach for different clients, the process increases the effectiveness of a team.

Use People’s Strengths

Employees have both strengths and weaknesses, both of which should be recognised and considered. Each team member should spend time using their skills to the best of their advantage, but weaknesses should be improved upon to create a skilled all-round employee.

Great Teams Read

It’s a well-known saying that ‘leaders are readers’, so to create leaders within a team, they should consistently read. Try to share articles and books amongst the workplace to keep on top of upcoming trends and stimulate strategic thinking.

Invest in Your First Five Employees

Training should be invested into all staff, however when more time is spent training the first five employees, less time is invested in training employees who join the company at a later date. Time needs to be reserved to assist team members and to prepare them to demonstrate the same support to further employees as the company expands.

It’s OK to Be Friends

More often than not, co-workers spend more time with each other in the workplace than they do with family in general. Getting on with team members creates a positive working environment whilst also increasing performance levels. As long as targets are being hit and people are being held accountable, it shouldn’t be unusual to manage a team that is made up of friends.

Give Recognition

Recognising employees when they do something extraordinary not only gives them a sense of accomplishment; it inspires other team members to make the effort to also go above and beyond their normal duties.

It takes time and effort to put together a dream team, but using the above strategies, an amazing team of brilliant employees is most definitely attainable. Remember that scale can hurt focus. The greatest leaders keep their teams small and bright.



The contents of this article are necessarily expressed in broad terms and limited to general information rather than detailed analyses or legal advice. Specialist professional advice should always be obtained to address legal and other issues arising in specific contexts.