Excerpted from Georgia Employment Law Letter written by attorneys at the law firm of Ford & Harrison LLP

Q: Now that it's getting warm (or should I say "hot"), some employees are wearing less and less to work every day. It doesn't really bother me, but I believe some employees may be a little uncomfortable with the skimpy attire of their coworkers.
A: As with most things that fall under the heading "best practices," the key here is remembering general employment laws, consistency, and common sense:
• First, even if an employee's attire doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, it may bother others. An employer should approach employees' attire with the same degree of objective scrutiny with which it approachs other visual and verbal incidents in the workplace (such as workers wearing t-shirts with inappropriate sayings or displaying pictures on their desks and bulletin boards).

• Second, although you may think that some people look better in skimpy clothes than others, your opinion is irrelevant to what you should do about improper workplace attire. If you addresses inappropriate clothing with one person, make sure you address it with everyone else who is wearing something similar.

• Third (and perhaps most important), use common sense. If you have to rationalize whether an employee's attire is appropriate for work, chances are good that it isn't, and you need to address it.


Q: What's the best thing an employer can do to prevent employees' summer attire from becoming a problem?
A: Adopt and publish a dress code policy. If your employees know what's acceptable, they have an opportunity to comport themselves accordingly. A dress code policy will also help you objectively discern what's acceptable. For the most part, employers are free to adopt and enforce rules governing how employees must dress. However, there are some important factors to consider when setting workplace dress codes.

Rules regulating appearance, whether they're based on safety factors or simply traditional values, are fine as long as they don't discriminate unfairly against a particular group. Among other things, you can require employees to keep tattoos covered, prohibit body piercings, and regulate fingernail length, skirt length, personal hygiene, body hair, and perfume. Employers may even have different requirements for men and women. For instance, several courts have held that employers can require men to wear ties while requiring women to wear skirts instead of pants. The key is to apply the dress code evenly (i.e., if one rule addresses women, a similar rule should address men).

So where do employers run into trouble? One example occurs when the rules seem fair but apply disproportionately to either men or women, resulting in a sex discrimination lawsuit. For instance, some employers require professional attire for employees who have frequent customer contact, like receptionists and salespeople, while allowing casual attire for employees who have little customer contact, like mechanics or mailroom employees. That rule can lead to a lawsuit if all the receptionists and salespeople are women and all the other workers are men.

The bottom line for employers? Enforce your dress codes and other appearance-related rules with the awareness that they should be evenly weighted toward all employees and applied consistently when violations occur.


Copyright 2009 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC. GEORGIA EMPLOYMENTLAW LETTER . GEORGIA EMPLOYMENT LAW LETTER does not attempt to offer solutions to individual problems but rather to provide information about current developments in Georgia employment law. Questions about individual problems should be addressed to the attorney of your choice. Georgia does not certify specialists in the law, and we do not claim certification in any listed area.