Conforming To Employers' Dress Code May Cost Employee
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What's the difference between a uniform and a dress code? Money in your pocket.
Those smiley face buttons Walmart employees wear may be the only happy face on a Walmart employee right now. The company just implemented what it calls a dress code, which requires employees to wear collared shirts and khaki bottoms.
If they don't already own clothes like that, they have to buy them.
Can your employer force you to buy the clothes it makes you wear? Most of the time.
The law says that if an employer has a dress code that just requires a general type of street clothing like a collared shirt but allows variation in the exact type, the employer can make a worker buy it if he doesn't already have it in his wardrobe. If, however, the employer requires a specific, distinctive uniform, the employer can still make a worker pay for it out of his own pocket but only if that doesn't cause his wage to drop below minimum wage.
Walmart's dress code wouldn't be considered a uniform so the employees do have to pay for it no matter their wage. But as Walmart reminded them, they can get an employee discount if they buy it there!
Yeah, that'll put a smile on their face.