CANADIAN HR REPORTER September 5, 2016
12 NEWS
e ability for an employer to
insist on these types of clothing
choices has become quite limited,
said Whitten.
"And there's a recognition that
there's liability associated with
insisting women dress a certain
way."
It has become a risky legal area
for employers moving forward —
particularly employers in the hos-
pitality industry — including the
restaurant and bar scene — where
a lot of employers have built a
brand on providing a "certain
look" for servers to entice clients.
"I think those companies now
are in dangerous territory," said
Whitten.
"It's not just the dress code and
how the woman feels in it but,
unfortunately, in this society, a lot
of people misinterpret a woman's
dress as saying something about
her sexual morals or availability."
Colleagues may even treat them
differently, which could lead to le-
gal trouble around sexual harass-
ment complaints.
On the flip side, some profes-
sional offices such as law firms
require everyone to dress quite
conservatively, said Whitten.
"Somewhere in the middle is
probably the right thing. To re-
quire everybody to wear a nun's
habit? Not necessary. But, by the
same token, requiring everybody
to wear a halter top is not wise
either."
ere's no doubt that in many
workplaces, there's been a shift
towards employers relaxing dress
codes, said Adrian Ishak, employ-
ment lawyer and partner at Rubin
omlinson in Toronto.
And the OHRC policy around
sexualized dress codes is an excel-
lent step.
"But very few employers are go-
ing to find themselves in that posi-
tion of requiring sexualized dress
codes. I think the bigger issue is
just, generally speaking, engen-
dered expectations," he said.
"ere's a number of issues —
first of all, the gender issue and
the trans issues that are associated
with it."
It's very important that employ-
ers do not assign gender expecta-
tions to dress codes — meaning
women may wear skirts, or rules
to that effect — because that could
potentially cause issues among
sexual minorities and trans indi-
viduals in the workplace, he said.
Best practices
When it comes to dress codes, it's
always best to have a clear, written
policy instead of relying on com-
mon sense, said Ishak.
"Because common sense is ac-
tually not that common — and
nowhere is this more evident than
in dress codes."
Employers will often try to rely
on employees' good judgment, and
very often then have to backtrack
and create a dress code, he said.
"My advice to my clients is al-
ways to have a dress code. You
want to relax your dress code?
at's fine, but have a written poli-
cy about things that are acceptable
and things that are not."
ere are some issues to keep in
mind, first and foremost of which
is to avoid gendered norms, such
as forcing women to wear skirts
and men to wear pants.
Also, avoid gendered language
within the policy, said Ishak.
"Employers that often move
toward more relaxed, casual dress
codes more often than not get out
in front of it by having a written
policy."
Engendered expectations an issue: Lawyer
DRESS CODE < pg. 3
"You want to relax your dress code?
at's fine, but have a written policy."
Starbucks recently announced a more relaxed dress code, producing a visual "lookbook" with examples.
