NEW YORK - Here's a scenario very likely to happen at a small business this summer: The owner arrives in the morning, and is greeted not only by the company's receptionist, but also her exposed navel. And maybe her nose ring too.
In the summer heat, many employees, particularly those in their first jobs, may show up for work in rather skimpy attire that a small business owner feels is unsuitable for the workplace. The solution is to create a dress code - something that every business has the right to do.
Tory Johnson dealt with the issue just a few weeks ago. Three interns, ages 19 to 21, showed up at Johnson's Manhattan recruitment services firm with tank tops, exposed bra straps and flip-flops.
"Not only is that totally inappropriate in any office - I couldn't care less how hot it is outside - but since my company focuses on the advancement of professional women, it's doubly unacceptable to me," said Johnson, CEO of Women For Hire.
Johnson spoke to the young women, and "they got it immediately." As is often the case, they had no idea about how they should dress for work.
Bonnie Beirne, director of service operations for Administaff Inc., a Houston-based company that provides human resources outsourcing, says a dress code should be in writing, but even if a business doesn't have one yet, an owner still has the right to tell a staffer that he or she needs to wear more appropriate attire.
That means telling an employee: "I realize we don't have something in writing, but I'm going to be putting together a policy communicating our dress code policy more formally."
An owner also needs to explain to workers that how they dress delivers a message to customers and vendors.
"It goes back to image and branding for your company - what are you saying to your customers," Beirne said.
When staffers dress for work as if they're going to the beach, there's also likely to be plenty of resentment among co-workers who do dress more professionally.
At Logos Research Systems Inc., the dress code was ultra-casual; even the president came in wearing shorts. Just about anything was OK - until a new employee showed up not only in sweats and a baseball cap, but not having taken a shower for several days running.
Dan Pritchett, vice-president for marketing and business development for the Bellingham, Wash.-based software company, said, "Sadly, we were big chickens; we waited longer than we should have" to address the situation. But after about three weeks, it had to be dealt with and the staffer was told to dress better and take a shower.
"The reaction was much rejoicing because the majority of the people couldn't take the smell and the look," Pritchett said.
Logos does have a dress code now, but it's still quite lenient; shorts, but not cut-offs, are OK. But Pritchett said the general attire in the company, while casual, has become much more serious because the president, Pritchett's brother Bob, is dressing a little more professionally.
"He got tired of being embarrassed" when customers, vendors, even journalists would show up wearing business clothes while the president was wearing shorts, Dan Pritchett said. When Bob started dressing better, wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, so did staffers.
There are other issues beyond appearance that can make a dress code crucial, such as worker safety. Many manufacturing companies have dress codes to ensure that garments aren't caught in machinery, for example. Even in an office setting, safety can be an issue. If someone drops a box of computer paper and it lands on the foot of an employee wearing only flip-flops, that can lead to injury and a workers compensation case.
