Need wording for addressing dress code w/employee

TX-Bride

I have a new hire, a younger gal in her early 20s (her first job at a corporate office), although I have given her the dress code policy, but she dresses too casual for the work environment. Our workplace is casual to begin with, but she wears maxi skirt and flip flops and a scoop neck t that shows off her tattoo on her shoulders. Today she was wearing a top with two wide straps, but her bra strap was showing. The issue has come up in the past few days, since we are experiencing warmer weather than usual. So I have no idea what she is going to wear in the summer.

I work at a place that although you would do a coaching session, it would be documented and I need some help with wording.

If you had experience in this situation what did you say and how did you handle it?

TIA

 

groovygrl

I'm curious about what the dress code policy says?

 

TX-Bride

"All clothing must be consistent with the standards for a professional environment and not attract undue attention or serve as a distraction to others. It must also be appropriate to the type of work being performed and take into account the expectations of any customers served.   In general, business casual is required for daily dress for non-uniformed employees.  However, the XX Department recognizes that activities, responsibilities, and schedules will vary from day to day and from employee to employee. 

 

If the employee is going to perform activities in the field in which business casual attire may not be appropriate then casual dress is permitted.  If the employee is in the field this guideline does not relieve them of the requirements to wear appropriate PPE, including appropriate shoes, safety vests, safety pants, etc. as required by the Department.

 

In addition, standard business attire may be required if an employee has a meeting with Executive Staff, the Board of Directors, customer, or other parties as deemed necessary. 

 

In all cases, attire for work must be well groomed, neat, clean, and in good taste. The following examples are to serve as guidelines and do not include all examples of permitted or unacceptable attire.

 

STANDARD BUSINESS ATTIRE INCLUDES:

 

Men

Blazers, suits, or sport coats, dress slacks, dress shoes, and ties.

 

Women

Dresses, skirts, dress slacks, blouses, dress shoes, sweaters.

 

BUSINESS CASUAL ATTIRE INCLUDES:

 

The items included in Standard Business Attire with the addition of:

 

Slacks, Pants, and Suit Pants

Slacks that are similar to Dockers and other makers of cotton or synthetic material pants, wool pants, flannel pants, dressy capris, and nice looking dress synthetic pants are acceptable

 

Skirts, Dresses, and Skirted Suits

Casual dresses and skirts, and skirts that are split at or below the knee are acceptable. Dress and skirt length should be at a length at which you can sit comfortably in public

 

Shirts, Tops, Blouses, and Jackets

Casual shirts, dress shirts, sweaters, tops, golf-type shirts, and turtlenecks are acceptable attire for work. Suit jackets or sport jackets are also acceptable attire for the office

 

Shoes and Footwear

Loafers, boots, flats, dress heels, and leather deck-type shoes are acceptable for work.

 

CASUAL ATTIRE INCLUDES

 

The items included in business casual with the addition of denim jeans and pants, casual Capri pants,

 

 

UNACCEPTABLE ATTIRE INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

 

?         Shorts

?         Hats

?         T-Shirts (unless worn under another blouse, dress, or acceptable shirt)

?         Flip Flops

?         Spandex & Lycra (i.e. biking shorts)

?         Tank tops

?         Tube tops

?         Halter tops

?         Beach wear

?         Cutoffs

?         Wrinkled, torn, stained, dirty, faded, discolored, patched, ripped, frayed clothing ? or clothing with missing buttons ? are not appropriate

?         Revealing or skin-tight shirts, pants, etc., are not acceptable

?         Clothes with offensive slogans or pictures, e.g., profanity and nude or seminude pictures, offensive gestures, suggestive cartoons

?         Clothes with political slogans, derogatory words, advertisements

?         Offensive, explicit, or graphic buttons, hats, caps, or other attire are prohibited

 

This guideline does not prevent non-uniformed employees from participating in certain casual and themed days as announced by the Communications Department or the Director of the Maintenance Department.

 

All non-uniform employees are expected to use good judgment and common sense when deciding appropriate clothing.  The Maintenance Department is confident that each employee will use their best judgment when maintaining appropriate attire and appearance. However, Management reserves the right to determine appropriateness. A rule of thumb ? if unsure that an article of clothing is acceptable, most likely it isn?t. If in doubt, don?t wear it! Any employee who is improperly dressed will be counseled, and/or may be sent home to change clothes. Non-exempt employees will have the time charged to accrued personal hours or vacation accruals, or taken as leave without pay. If an employee violates the guideline by wearing unacceptable attire a written warning will be issued and placed in the employee?s personnel file. Continued disregard of the guideline may be cause for further disciplinary action, which may result in termination.

TX-Bride

For some reason copy paste did not work well!

XCrissCrossX

I would just be straight up: "Amber, your clothes are lovely but not appropriate for the work environment here. As the dress policy states, sandals must have straps (or toes must be covered or whatever), and business casual clothes are to be worn. That means that tattoos and under garments must remain covered, skirts should be x length, shorts are inappropriate, etc."

1026pumpkin

I might go talk with HR.  Other than the flip flops, it doesn't sound like she's violating the written word of the policy, which makes it hard to document.

Would it be possible to have a coaching session with her to say something more along the lines of you wanting to ensure people are taking her seriously, and that while a long wool skirt is business appropriate, a long tie die skirt is not, etc. and give her some examples.

I used to work with someone who had issues with credibility because she wore sun dresses and tevas to business meetings.  Our manager had a meeting and told her she needed to wear business attire and closed-toe shoes....so she started showing up in long-sleeve linen and hemp dresses and clogs.  I felt really bad for her because she was brilliant and a hard worker, but nobody took her seriously.  Our manager's hands were tied because the dress met the length and sleeve requirements, wasn't tight or revealing, and she was wearing close-toed shoes that weren't sneakers.....

aglenn

1026pumpkin:

Would it be possible to have a coaching session with her to say something more along the lines of you wanting to ensure people are taking her seriously, and that while a long wool skirt is business appropriate, a long tie die skirt is not, etc. and give her some examples.

This is how I would handle it, because really that is the issue.  If clients or customers are in the office you can throw that in as well.  We had a dress code abuser in a prior job of mine who would wear ratty jeans with holes in them and one day a client saw him using the fax machine and actually reported to the owner of the company that someone had wandered in off the street to use our fax...and that was the end of denim Fridays for us. 

groovygrl

Good advice all around I think...I would think maybe the 'revealing' part could apply too if there are exposed bra straps and a lot of skin showing (not sure where on the shoulder the tattoo is but if it is pretty far over toward the arm side of the shoulder, that is a wide scoop? I don't really see an issue w/ maxi skirts if paired w/ appropriate shoes & top in a casual work environment but maybe it depends on the print or really how she is wearing it.

I think I'd start w/ the flip flops & maybe some of the 'revealing' stuff if you think it qualifies and then have a frank conversation about professional attire, how she interprets that, being taken seriously, expectations in a corporate environment, etc.  GL

Iblamethebeer

Yeah if she's young and her mom never had to dress "business casual" she may just really have NO idea.

I would approach this less as "you have violated policy" and more as "here's why what you're wearing does not make you look professional." 

TX-Bride

Thank you for all the advice. I seriously think she never had a corporate job and at loss what's appropriate or not. I agree I don't want to sound like punishment, since she is knew and still learning and more coaching.

Netty_3

Iblamethebeer:

Yeah if she's young and her mom never had to dress "business casual" she may just really have NO idea.

I would approach this less as "you have violated policy" and more as "here's why what you're wearing does not make you look professional." 

I can appreciate the sensitivity here, but, how does someone going into a professional field not know how to dress business casual?  That's ridiculous, she's in her 20s not 12. I'm not saying be a jerk or mean to her, but give her a copy of the dress code, and say what a pp said ...while your clothes are lovely, they are not appropriate for work. They can be distracting, tell her to take her cues from others in the workplace etc.  Otherwise future hires may take their cues from her. 

Teach your daughters! I advise for a group of collegiate women, and it is amazing how many don't know about camisoles, slips, how to sit in a skirt or dress, how to walk in heels, or how to find a bra that works for the outfit they're wearing...or at all.  

526SadieSadie

I think you've gotten some good advice and all I'll add is, after you talk to her, give her a little bit of time to catch her wardrobe up to your offices' standards - she may not have the money to go out and buy new work appropriate clothes all at once.  Those bra straps should be the easiest thing to take care of though.

tig594

I don't understand the whole flip flop thing.  When has it ever been ok to wear flip flops to work?  I mean, unless you work at the beach or the pool. 

IBackBevo

tig594:

I don't understand the whole flip flop thing.  When has it ever been ok to wear flip flops to work?  I mean, unless you work at the beach or the pool. 

I know a district court judge who wears flip flops under her robe.

DelBride2012

This is actually really embarrassing, but when I got my first professional job out of college, a boss needed to address my wardrobe with me. The reality of the matter was, I didn't have much money to invest in clothes (before I got the job I'd been couch-surfing and had to scrape together every penny to get myself into my own apartment and was sleeping on a borrowed air mattress in an otherwise empty studio). 

My boss, a really amazing guy, left a copy of "Women's Dress For Success" on my desk with a hint-y inscription. I took that next paycheck straight to a TJ Maxx type place and got myself some appropriate stuff. Truth be told, I thought I was making it work with my casual skirts and blouses, and was of course mortified to be told that I actually was not pulling it off. 

badkittyct

Well it says no flip flops or tanks so I would go over it with her and just let her know that you noticed she hasn't been within the guidelines for the dress code and you wanted to review it with her. A simple pair or flats or a cardigan would fix a lot of the problems.

 

It says nothing about tattoos so neither can you.