From flip-flops to tube tops, “Daisy Duke” shorts to arm-length tattoos, maintaining a professional-looking workforce is an uphill battle for employers – particularly in the summertime, when employee flesh is on display as far as the eye can see. Recent studies have found that about half of Americans in their 20s sport a body piercing somewhere besides their ears, or a tattoo, and this is the time of year you’re bound to encounter something that’s been demurely hiding beneath a sweater all winter.
Striking the proper balance between requiring appropriate dress among your employees and respecting their rights at the same time can be tricky, particularly when concerns like religious expression come into play.
During this audio conference recording, our employment law expert will explain the practical and legal steps you can take to respect your employees’ cultural and religious rights while maintaining a professional work environment. You’ll learn what you can – and cannot – require in your current dress code, as well as the changes you should make to your rules to stay current with today’s employment laws and younger workforce.
You and your colleagues will learn:
- The key rules you should always include in your appearance policies
- How to address sensitive summertime dress code situations, such as the employee who regularly comes to work simply wearing too little
- How to adopt dress codes that keep younger workers happy without upsetting their more experienced colleagues who came of age in the “suit and tie” era
- The most recent court decisions on dress codes – and how they apply to you
- How to tailor your appearance policies to fit workers in different types of jobs, from the warehouse to the corner office
- How much detail you should include in your written appearance policies
- How to address the needs of today’s diverse workforce in your appearance policies
- Proven tips for communicating your dress code expectations to workers without running afoul of the law
- The questionable dress code rules to avoid that could leave you liable for claims of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, or similar grounds
- How to deal with employees who consistently push the dress code envelope – and when you should bring in your attorney instead of confronting an employee yourself
- How to prepare policies that legally and effectively address piercings, jewelry, tattoos, beards, hairstyles, cosmetics, and other seemingly innocuous yet legally tricky issues.
This audio conference was recorded on Wednesday, July 30, 2008
About Your Speaker:
Andria Ryan, Esq., is a partner at the Atlanta, Georgia office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP in the Atlanta office. Ryan represents employers exclusively in the areas of labor, employment, civil rights, employee benefits and immigration law.
Ryan received her bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C. and her law degree from Catholic University in 1988. She is an AV rated lawyer and represents numerous employers throughout the United States in various phases of labor and employment law. A significant portion of her practice is spent working with clients in implementing preventive employee relations programs which include management and supervisor training and the development and administration of lawful employment policies and practices.
In 2005, Ryan served as Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Labor and Employment Law Section and currently chairs the firm’s Hospitality Practice Group. She is a frequent speaker to industry groups on numerous topics including union avoidance, staffing and immigration challenges, prevention of employee theft of trade secrets, avoiding discrimination, harassment and wrongful discharge claims, and wage and hour compliance.
