Laws Affecting Dress Codes

April 13, 2006

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While dress codes may seem harmless enough, you need to be especially careful that dress code requirements do not discriminate against members of protected groups, based on federal and state antidiscrimination laws.

Religious discrimination. For employees who contend that their religious beliefs require wearing certain apparel or refraining from wearing certain apparel, you need to:

show business justification for your requirements
reasonably accommodate their religious beliefs
ask the employees to seek an exemption from wearing religious garb while on duty

If an employee is required by safety or health standards to wear a hat during work but because of religious reasons cannot wear a head covering, you could try several approaches.

You could explain to the employee that due to state or federal safety and health laws — which constitute a business reason — the employee cannot continue the job without that hat.

Or, you could ask that the employee go to his or her religious leader and ask for an exemption from the rule barring hats for business purposes.

If, after these efforts have failed, the employee will still not wear the hat, then perhaps you can give the employee something else to do that would not conflict with the his or her religious beliefs. Termination should be a last resort.

Racial discrimination. Certain grooming and dress code requirements can unfairly affect members of certain races. Be sure that your dress code is nondiscriminatory.

No-beard rules have been challenged on the grounds that shaving may precipitate a skin condition more common among black men than white. However, in one case, a court did not have to determine whether an employer had a business reason for the no-beard rule because the employee failed to show that the rule had adverse impact.

Disability discrimination. You must try to reasonably accommodate an employee with a disability that makes it impossible for the employee to conform to the personal appearance standards.

Gender discrimination. You can generally require different grooming standards for women and men as long as the policy does not do any of the following:

inhibit equal access to employment opportunities between men and women
attempt to deny employment to a particular sex
give a significant employment advantage to either sex

Warning

If you have a dress code rule that applies to all employees, regardless of gender, it must be enforced consistently for all employees. In one case, female employees were allowed to wear ponytails and earrings while the men were not, even though the company rule banning earrings and ponytails applied to all employees. While an employer can require different grooming standards for men and women, if the rule applies to both genders, the employer must enforce the rule equally. The court found the practice of not enforcing the rule equally to be discriminatory.