Heatwave: "No Topless" rules in shops, pubs, etc?

[Electerrific]

Sloppy casual dress, sloppy casual attitude, sloppy casual work.

I saw the standards drop dramatically when I was working. Your standards of dress DOES affect the standard of work. I agree with previous posts that employees represent their companies and should be professional at all times. The boss has every right to impose standards of dress, he pays your wages, like it or not. The weather is no excuse for dropping standards.

We had a meeting about this yesterday at our work, the manager said he didn't mind us how we were (a mixture of formal down to shorts/t-shirts) as in our work we can only be seen from the shoulders up.

 

But we get VIP visitors now and then and he always briefs us beforehand. We are never allowed to wear brands etc or anything too informal anyway, but he allows us a more or less 'free hand'- our work does NOT suffer.

 

And to the above poster- no I didn't think it was 'ok back then' i was young, away and it was hot, i acted without thinking. I think those awful sights and smells in town - with their tacky homemade tats and acres of flab/skinny 'Slim Shady' wannabe macho boys- should cover up!

[Cyclone]

Im sure it will be very subject to your trade. Some hippy marketing firm will probably get away with it but working in corporate legal my trade certainly would not.

 

We are still the profession with robes and wigs being worn in court. Merely turning up without a tie would be a scandal.

 

I do it to my staff because they are ALL representaives of the company. I dont care if they are client facing or not. I dont care whether they represent clients or simply sit there answering the switchboard. We are a professional organisation and they should look like it at all times.

Personally I think that being professional would include taking into account the weather and whether staff were customer facing when setting an appropriate dress policy. Rather than setting a blanket rule based on some sort of sound bite.

 

As I said before, our colleagues in Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta and New Delhi all look professional and smart and their heatwave is far worse than ours.

 

People are right to say clothes dont make the man (or woman). However, here is another phrase to think of first impressions count.

Hence the distinction between client facing and not.

 

I wouldn't expect to walk into a bank and see my bank manager walking round in t-shirt, shorts and deck shoes. Nor would I expect the staff of a funeral directors to be washing the funeral cars shirtless.

 

As others have said its about respect and etiquette. If you are walking around a park, beach, bbq party, beer garden (maybe) fine. But if you are shopping / going for a meal / going into town get dressed properly.

We worry too much about flesh IMO.

 

---------- Post added 20-07-2013 at 14:02 ----------

 

 

You can wear something cooler. Its called LIGHT MATERIAL.

 

Its what people have been doing for centuries in the summer. By the way, who says that exposing more and more pasty flesh is the best way of keeping cool.

Who says it isn't?

The fact that you call it "pasty flesh" though suggests that it offends you. Which is what I mean when I say that we worry too much about flesh. It's just someones body, get over it.

The reminds me of the thread where someone believed that nobody should ever get naked in a public changing room (ie at the gym or the pool). On a slightly lesser scale of course.

 

---------- Post added 20-07-2013 at 18:40 ----------

 

Sloppy casual dress, sloppy casual attitude, sloppy casual work.

I saw the standards drop dramatically when I was working. Your standards of dress DOES affect the standard of work. I agree with previous posts that employees represent their companies and should be professional at all times. The boss has every right to impose standards of dress, he pays your wages, like it or not. The weather is no excuse for dropping standards.

 

Your standard of dress has no bearing on how effectively you work, except possibly to reduce the standard when the dress policy is inappropriate to the temperature in the office.

 

I produce the same amount of quality code whether I'm wearing a shirt and tie or a t-shirt.