Big News in Retail Clothing Dress Code Policy

by Ron Maier

If you have ever managed, worked, or shopped in a clothing store you are familiar with the age-old requirement for employees to buy and wear the clothes that are sold by that particular store. For many years this was thought of as "a given" for many retail environments and went virtually uncontested by employees, until now. According to leading retail experts and the State of California Labor Commission, requiring employees to buy and wear products of a specific brand is considered breaking the law.The revenues secured through employee purchases sit somewhere in the hundreds of thousands, being somewhat difficult to determine. It makes sense that employers would want their employees to show off their clothes. Requiring an employee dress code utilizes the employee as another display fixture, but one that can restock shelves or clothes hangers and can attend to customer service. For some employees, the dress code is specifically written and includes particular items, while others are more ambiguous and unwritten. In many cases, the policies are determined by individual store managers, and in some of those cases they even go against the formal company policies. Whatever the case may be, requiring employees to purchase their clothing for dress code is in violation of the Industrial Welfare Commission and the Labor Code of the state of California. Many companies believe they have covered their bases by offering large discounts to employees, but even these companies and managers are not off the hook. The most recent lawsuit involving employee dress code was filed in San Francisco, CA against Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation stores. A sales associate stated that they spent over $7K in the past year on Ralph Lauren Apparel when their gross salary was only $22K, which amounts to over 30 of their income. The store management rules required that the associate always wear the most recent in the Ralph Lauren seasonal selections. The $7K spending was actually including a 65 discount on all items, but at Ralph Lauren many items were still in excess of one thousand dollars.Though this was one of the first major lawsuits involving mandatory employee purchases, this practice is common for a majority of retail clothes stores, and it is certainly not local to the State of California. Some companies give wardrobe allowances while others require employees to purchase their expected work attire. Some stores are making better efforts than others. For example, Guess Inc. encourages employees to wear Guess tops and bottoms, but they are not required to present the current seasonal lines. The garment can even be from last year, and employees do receive a large discount. In fact, the employee discounts attract a large number of employees, and by not having seasonal requirements the costs are much lower. The biggest reason why Guess does not have legal issues surrounding their policy is that they only encourage employees to wear Guess products. It is not an absolute requirement. Some industry leaders are standing up for their right to dress code requirements, arguing that stores cannot afford to have their employees wearing other brands. These employers claim that potential employees are notified of the requirements before they are hired, and if the do not like the policy they can find another job. However, California uniform laws prevent employers from requiring employees to buy their own uniforms if they require a specific brand. If the requirement is based on color or purpose it is admissible for employees to buy their own uniform, as there are a wide variety of price ranges to choose from.This long time wardrobe practice for retailers is now become a large-scale legal issue that is expected to arise in many different State courts. Retailers need to examine their policies and explore what would be the fairest solutions for both employers and employees, and even they don't end up in court, keeping employees happy is vital to the success of any sales environment.

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