September 2011 - Employment Law Update

1. Dress codes

The law relating to dress codes in the context of sex discrimination is well established in general terms. Where staff are required to wear uniforms it is permissible for an employer to insist that male and female staff wear different uniforms.

There have been recent reports in the news that a sales assistant has been effectively forced to leave her job because she refused to abide by a dress code that required all female shop assistants to wear make-up. It is not yet known whether she will bring a tribunal claim. If she does, the decision of the tribunal is, however, likely to be of interest to many, particularly employers in the retail and hospitality sectors.