How many times have you had to change your company’s dress code to address situations that no one previously thought of? Next question: Does your company’s dress code cover hats?

The borough of Littlestown, PA, recently told a school crossing guard he could no longer where his signature silly hats on the job because they were unprofessional and a distraction to drivers. They told him to wear his standard-issue crossing guard hat instead.

Children called Larry Douthwaite “Hat Man.” His collection includes a 2-foot-tall stovepipe hat, a pharaoh-style covering and one that looks like he has a jet airplane sitting on top of his head.

Douthwaite told WGAL-TV that he wore the hats for the kids at first. But then he noticed the hats helped him be safe because people were more likely to notice him.

After he started wearing his crossing guard hat every day, it didn’t take long for people in the community to notice that his funny hats were gone.

People wanted Douthwaite’s fun hats back. Public support for him was huge. WGAL ran a survey, and 96% said he should be able to wear the fun hats.

“I think they are tired of having fun things sucked out of their life, and I think the reaction mushroomed because of that,” said Douthwaite.

Happy ending

When citizens speak up in one voice about an issue, politicians often listen.

The Littlestown Borough Council voted unanimously to allow Douthwaite to continue wearing his hats.

How did Douthwaite celebrate his victory? By wearing his pharaoh hat on the job the day after the borough council vote.

So, here are some questions regarding this story:

• Should Douthwaite be allowed to wear the silly hats? Do you think they’d be a help or hindrance for a school crossing guard?
• Have you ever had a special dress-up day at work to help improve morale? Maybe Hawaiian shirt day?
• In these tough economic times, should HR allow some rules, such as dress code, to be bent a little bit if it’ll improve morale?

Let us know your thoughts via the Comments Box below.

On his first day in office, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket.

While there are signs the Obama White House will be less formal than George Bush’s, there is another explanation for the lack of a presidential jacket. Obama likes it warm in the office.

“You could grow orchids in there,” adviser David Axelrod told The New York Times.

No-jacket weekdays are only the start of the more relaxed dress code.

The president has issued a call for “business casual” on weekends and set his own example. He showed up on a Saturday for a briefing dressed in slacks and a gray sweater over a white buttoned-down shirt.

How does this contrast to the Bush White House? Dan Bartlett, a former counselor to Mr. Bush, said one Saturday in the Oval Office he had on khakis and a buttoned-down shirt and he was chewed out for 15 minutes.

That’s because one of its employees was caught not wearing any clothes on the job.

Sheriff’s deputies were making a routine bar check at the Cabin Tavern when they allegedly found bartender Janet Brannon working in the nude.

Brannon was the only employee at the bar, so the deputies closed it down and arrested her on an outstanding warrant, according to the Alton, IL, Telegraph.

She also faces a public indecency charge. Local authorities will also seek charges against the bar’s owners.

Peterson delivers the U.S. Mail and wants to wear a kilt on the job.

Peterson is so serious about his proposal that he’s drafted a resolution to allow kilts — or Male Unbifurcated Garments (MUGs) — as an option for the official male postal carrier uniform. He’s presenting his resolution at the National Association of Letter Carriers convention.

He argues that pants can cause sweat rashes. “Please open your hearts — and inseams — for an option in mail carrier comfort,” Peterson was quoted in the Boston Globe. His proposal includes a photo of himself wearing a kilt to show what would be allowed under his proposal.

Peterson’s resolution has passed at two state letter carrier conventions.

Postal carrier dress code does allow women to wear skirts.

Peterson gets lots of comments about his kilts which he wears for various occasions off the job. And the answer to one of the most common questions he’s asked: Yes, he is wearing underwear under the kilt. 

The good news: The judges get to do away with their traditional wigs. The bad news: The new robes are color-coded, which had led at least one critic to liken them to the uniforms from the sci-fi series Star Trek.

The judges on the Appeal Court and High Court will start wearing the new robes in October which include color bands to identify seniority.

The most senior judges get gold bands; High Court judges get red ones.

British newspaper The Guardian deputy fashion editor Hadley Freeman said the new outfit would make the wearer look like an “evil pastor” or a “cut-price Cruella de Vil” from the Disney movie 101 Dalmatians.

To make the point about how the robes look like Star Trek uniforms, the newspaper juxtaposed a picture of a judge wearing one of the new robes and a snapshot of actor Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

The fashion editor quipped, “Instead of appearing imperious, the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips, now just looks like the man who sells you tickets for the Star Trek Experience … in Las Vegas.”

The Judicial Communications Office said the new robes would cut costs by reducing the number of robes certain judges had to wear.

Duncan’s daily work uniform as a master carpenter is a man-bikini (others would refer to what he’s wearing by the brand name Speedo).

In at all started in 1993 when he wore a man-bikini while competing in a mountain bike race. Someone yelled, “Bikini Man.” Duncan says he felt an electric rush (we hope it just wasn’t that his suit was too tight).

Since then, according to an article in the San Antonio Express-News, Duncan has increasingly taken the bikini public.

Duncan rarely gets complaints about working in just the skimpy bathing suit. He says on one occasion, the police were called about a half dozen times to one site where he was working, but they never arrested him.

One client quoted in the newspaper article says he got comments from neighbors about Duncan, but his carpentry work is worth it. “You definitely have to warn your wife before he comes over,” the client said.

And Duncan says he’s picked up business because of the bikini.

The fabric-challenged swimsuit also plays a part in Duncan’s social life. He says at his favorite nightspots, women usually approach him.

Interestingly, Duncan does draw the line at total nudity. He says one night when a group of friends went skinny dipping, he couldn’t do it.

But one lucky worker in Hampshire, England, could earn 2/3 more than usual for not wearing any clothes at all.

The job of naked cleaner has been posted at the Southampton Jobcentre Plus, according to the Daily Mail.

The pay: 10 pounds (about $20) an hour, compared to about $12 for regular clothed domestic help.

“Must have pleasant nature,” the ad says. The posting also says an apron will be provided.

The ad urged candidates to send an e-mail outlining their credentials. (We’d suggest hazard pay for anyone who had to open any JPG attachments.)

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said it couldn’t refused the ad.

In 2003, a court decision overturned a policy that certain types of ads connected with sex and personal services industries wouldn’t be accepted. 

Now, for the interview …

Apparently, there is some confusion over the dress code at The Grande movie theater in Winston-Salem, NC.

The theater has suspended 17-year-old employee Meyosha Love for ten days because her hair braids didn’t meet company guidelines, according to a local TV station.

The guidelines say hair color must “be a color that naturally occurs in nature on humans.”

Love says her braids are burgundy. She says it’s a hair color that occurs in nature on people — and notes it’s not something like blue or purple. You can judge for yourself via this photo.

After her suspension is over, Love plans to hide the braids under a hat at work.

She says changing the style isn’t an easy option. Braids can take up to nine hours and $200 at a salon.

Given the theater’s written policy, who do you think is right? Let us know. 

The WNBA’s new class of rookie women basketball players recently had orientation classes on those very topics.

In one class, a cosmetics expert brought in by the league showed the women how to arc their eyebrows, apply blush across their cheekbones and put on no-smudge eyeliner to receive the right attention off the basketball court.

And the players don’t seem to mind, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

“I think it’s important,” said No. 1 draft pick Candace Parker. Others quoted in the article seemed to agree.

Meanwhile, over at the LPGA, seven top women golfers are being represented by Wilhelmina Artist Management. The women have posed for photo shoots in which they wear bikinis, summer dresses and evening gowns. The photos are then used to help the women get endorsement contracts.

Similar to the basketball players, they seem to like it. “It was nice to feel glamorous,” golfer Kim Hall told the Los Angeles Times.

About three years ago, the NBA instituted an off-the-court dress code for its players. It requires “business casual,” which is defined as:

• a long- or short-sleeved dress shirt (collared or turtleneck), and/or a sweater
• dress slacks, khaki pants or dress jeans, and
• appropriate shoes and socks, including dress shoes, dress boots, or other presentable shoes, but not including sneakers, sandals, flip-flops, or work boots.

NBA player reaction at the time wasn’t as positive as that mentioned above from the WNBA. “I think it’s a load of crap,” said Tim Duncan of the Spurs.

But the Knicks’ Antonio Davis seemed to sum it up quite well. “I think anything you impose on players, the first reaction is going to be, ‘Nah, I don’t want to do that.’ We fight a little bit about change. But in the end, when it all settles, and you start to realize why, and guys will come in and they’ll feel good about how they’re dressed and things like that. Hopefully, they’ll start to embrace it.”

And that pretty much summarizes how we feel about having to put on a suit once a year for the company dinner when we’re used to the business casual dress code, much like the NBA’s, on a regular basis.

Does your workplace dress code address personal features such as facial hair, makeup, tattoos and piercings? Whether such policies are discriminatory continues to be an issue, as the city of Houston is finding out.

Houston doesn’t allow its police officers to have beards. Actually, they can have beards, but if they do, they can’t wear the city police uniform. Four bearded officers on the force are on plain clothes duty.

Four African American officers have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, claiming discrimination because shaving triggers a skin condition that disproportionately affects black men.

Men with pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) suffer rashes, ingrown hairs, infection, bleeding and scarring from shaving.

The officers claim that since they can only do plain clothes police duties it impacts their earning potential.

Recently, Houston City Council voted to allocate up to $150,000 to fight the officers’ suit, despite some council members’ questioning of the no-beard policy itself.

Houston Police enacted the no-beard rule for officers in 1993 so uniformed officers look conservative and professional, according to a city memo.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the policy wasn’t regularly enforced until after Sept. 11, 2001. After 9/11, all uniformed officers received gas masks, and beards sometimes prevent adequate seals when wearing the safety gear.

Three of the bearded officers say they’ve tested the gas masks and got good seals. They also claim the department could buy some different masks that work with beards.

What the courts have said

Federal courts have ruled that personal appearance rules in and of themselves aren’t illegal.

However, affected employees have to show discrimination in one of the areas protected by federal law — gender, age, race or national origin, color, religion, and disability.

For example, the Sikh religion requires men to wear beards. Some Orthodox Jewish men also wear beards as part of religious observance.

State and local laws may preclude employers from implementing such dress and appearance policies or add other categories, such as sexual orientation, to the federal list. Union contracts also have to be considered.

The argument by the Houston police that the policy affects their earnings potential may be a key to the court’s decision.

In Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, a group of African American firefighters, who were told they had to shave their beards, filed suit against the city using the same argument that they suffered from PFB.

The court rejected their disparate race claim because the City’s grooming requirement was based on a legitimate business necessity, that the firefighters had to have good seals on their respiratory equipment.

In other employee appearance cases, showing that the policy discriminated against a protected class and proving that it caused financial hardship is a combination that swayed judges to rule against the employer.

HR Blunders will follow the Houston police case and let you know how it turns out.

Does your company have rules about employee appearance that go beyond how they dress? Let us know.