Dress codes and uniforms

New and updated

• Type:

  Policies and documents

  Dress and appearance policy

  Updated to include reference to dress and appearance when working remotely.

• Date:

  24 September 2018

  Type:

  Survey analysis

  Dress and appearance survey 2018

  XpertHR explores the different approaches taken by employers to dress and appearance in the workplace and the challenges involved in ensuring that rules are followed

• Date:

  14 March 2017

  Type:

  Law reports

  Direct religious discrimination: employer's wish to please customer not a genuine occupational requirement

  The European Court of Justice has held that a direct religious discrimination claim in which an employee who wears an Islamic headscarf is dismissed to appease a customer cannot be defended on the basis of a "genuine and determining occupational requirement".

• Date:

  14 March 2017

  Type:

  Law reports

  Indirect discrimination: religious dress ban for public-facing roles can be justified

  The European Court of Justice has held that a ban on religious dress that prevents a Muslim woman from wearing an Islamic headscarf when in contact with clients cannot be directly discriminatory, but is potentially indirectly discriminatory.

• Date:

  3 August 2016

  Type:

  Law reports

  Religion or belief: Enquiry about length of Muslim job applicant's jilbab not discriminatory

  In Begum v Pedagogy Auras UK Ltd t/a Barley Lane Montessori Day Nursery EAT/0309/13, the EAT upheld an employment tribunal decision that there was no religious discrimination against a Muslim interviewee who was asked by the interviewer if she could wear religious clothing that did not present a trip hazard.

• Date:

  14 July 2016

  Type:

  Law reports

  Workplace ban on Muslim headscarves is discriminatory, suggests Advocate General

  The Advocate General has suggested that an employer cannot have a blanket ban on religious dress that prevents a Muslim woman from wearing an Islamic headscarf when in contact with clients.

• Date:

  2 June 2016

  Type:

  Law reports

  Workplace ban on Muslim headscarves can be legitimate, suggests Advocate General

  The Advocate General has said that it is not direct religious discrimination for an employer with a policy of religious and political neutrality to prevent a Muslim employee from wearing an Islamic headscarf.

• Date:

  1 June 2015

  Type:

  Survey analysis

  XpertHR dress codes survey 2015

  The employer debate about whether or not to police employee appearance in the workplace remains very much alive in 2015, according to XpertHR's research into dress codes.

• Date:

  3 December 2013

  Type:

  Law reports

  Fashion retailer's "wardrobe guidelines" for staff did not suggest policy on employees' body sizes

  This constructive dismissal claim against a fashion retailer was unsuccessful, but it does reveal some of the difficulties that can arise when employers in this sector require their staff to project a particular image.

• Date:

  17 June 2013

  Type:

  Law reports

  Safety-related questions in job interview about Muslim woman's religious dress were not discriminatory

  This employment tribunal considered whether or not it was discrimination for a manager with health and safety concerns to ask a Muslim interviewee about her unusually long religious dress.