Is it discrimination to target female secretaries with Dress code Emails if they find they have a problem with

Question

people in that position dressing inappropriately during the summer?

Answer 1

It's discrimination to target any particular group.

It's NOT discrimination to set a reasonable dress code policy, with the appropriate variations for the sexes' ways of dressing.

The way to do so is to publicize the code to all employees, and for supervisors to later deal with those who persist in violating them. The public part mentions no names, but just lists appropriate and innappropriate attire.

Answer 2

Your targeting female secretaries is blatantly sexist and stupid.  Yes, it's discrimination and no smart company would do that.

My company routinely, at the beginning of the summer, sends ALL employees an email reminding them of appropriate summer dress.  One year they said women had to wear pantyhose and closed-toe shoes (men just had to wear closed-toe shoes), and received such a blistering response that they rescinded that and said sandals were okay.  

You'll never get far in this world with your sexist, anti-female attitude, kid.

ETA:  oh, God - people, there are other ways to break the dress code than showing cleavage or wearing short skirts.

Answer 3

If they are having problems with "people" dressing inappropriately, they (the management) should have a conversation with those individuals. Otherwise, send the dress code "reminder" to EVERYBODY. This is just smart office politics. Singling out a group of people stereotypes and makes assumptions about those people. This can lead to dissatisfaction in the workplace. I don't know if it's "discrimination," but it certainly isn't smart, and is the sign of a poor leader.

Answer 4

A dress code for men and women should be established by your company.  If certain people arent following the dress code this needs to be address by their supervisors.  If it is a large number of people than the dress code my need to be emailed to all employees as a refresher.  Targeting them in an email unless you are their supervisor seems like a bad idea.

Answer 5

Depends who you are.

If you're a fellow employee, you probably don't have the authority to discipline other staff, and if you attempt to do so will either be mocked or create antagonism. Take it up with your boss, and let THEM deal with it.

If you're the supervisor or boss, it's more appropriate to speak directly to the employee in person before putting anything in writing.

If there's an office dress code, employees should be advised of it before joining the firm and it should be posted on the office noticeboard, with updates as needed.

Cheers :-)

Answer 6

No.

Rules are rules, and work is not the appropriate place to be wearing such things as Butt showing skirts, or shirts the reveal a woman's cleavage.

And that's regardless of weather it's an office environment, or some facility that allows employees to wear jeans and T shirts.

Answer 7

The dress code for both genders should be emailed to everyone on the office, with a statement that it has been noticed that some people are not following the dress code. If certain people continue to break the rules, talk to them individually, let them know if they break the rule again they will be reprimanded.

Answer 8

The male sales staff could be reminded that, according to the dress code, all male sales people must wear ties, even during the summer.  Not including the secretaries in that reminder is not discrimination since it does not apply to them.

As long as the dress code includes requirements for everyone, it's not discrimination.

Answer 9

Not necessarily. Every workplace has a particular ethic and conduct expected of their employees which includes their attire. If they are dressed in a suggestive, sexually provocative and somewhat trashy manner it reflects negatively on the business that tries to send out a particular image. It is not discrimination as it is her job for the office hours at least to be an asexual neutral worker and not her gender or a titillating object. It is simply unprofessional.

Edit: There is no real likelihood of a man coming to work in a sexually provocative outfit. Simply for the logical reason that they do not make clothes like that for men.Women can wear mini skirts and low cut blouses and skant else if they please.Men do not have that option.It is a tacit acknowledgment and does not need to be restated or issued as a caveat in a staff email. The only reason it ever would be is ridiculous political correctness.

Answer 10

If I worked in an office where some female employees dressed inappropriately, but I did not, I would be incredibly offended if I received a female-specific dress code email. Although I don't know the law, either the specific offenders should be talked to individually, or a general email outlining everyone's dress code should be sent to everyone (female and male).

Answer 11

Dress codes MUST be standardized and applied to all employees equally, even if you're sending the policy to people already in compliance. It's called "CYA" (you know what that means), and a smart employer would never do otherwise.

Answer 12

It's probably safer to send them to "all staff" to make your point.  But you could hang up a hard copy in the workspaces of the worst offenders to drive the point home.

And while we are on the subject, WHO decided that flip flops, no matter how high quality, were ever deemed OK for office attire?

Answer 13

As a grown woman. I can wear whatever the h**l I buy.

Answer 14

Hard to say, I think they would do better by sending that same email to every female employee...would be more politically correct I'd think.  And to go one better, they should send that email to men with the particular dresscode they expect from them.  Sending emails to solely secretaries is just asking for trouble, there are bound to be complaints.