is it illegal to force employees to wear fancy dress?

ceridwen

minimoneysaver wrote: »

Definitely go for the allergy to the face paints.... I take it that they are providing costumes and face paints. Health and safety will be crawling all over it!

...and while you're on the subject I note your comment about them paying "under minimum wage" - report them for that.

ceridwen

Personally - it wouldnt bother me at all spotting Halloween decorations anywhere or wearing Halloween gear myself (well - it wouldnt would it:D) - BUT I do think that employers should respect the fact that there are some people who hold beliefs incompatible with doing this and not insist on it. My own personal complaints would centre round "commercialism again - a load of cheap tat being bought to suit the companies who want us to waste money/worlds resources on such products"

I'm a great believer in "religious tolerance" all round - and that does include people not being forced to do anything antithetical to their beliefs (well....99% of the time...as I might back any employer that insisted that staff were not allowed to wear a burka - in order to help the woman concerned in case she was being forced to by her relatives).

I tend to agree with the "allergy" suggestion - and theres nothing to stop you replying in suitable vein if any customers comment on it (provided you have long enough length of service that you cant be sacked on a whim with no "reason"). If I didnt want to wear it myself and some customer commented on my "gear" in a jokey way they would instantly get told "I hate it and dont want to wear it - but what can you do when your employer forces you to wear it OR ELSE?" - 'twould rather defeat their "aint the staff all so happy and jokey" atmosphere they are trying to create:D

surreysaver

Errata wrote: »

The world's gone mad. This afternoon I visited someone admitted to a hospital medical assessment unit. Someone(s) had decorated the unit corridor for Halloween with lots of handmade pictures of blood dripping off skeletons :eek:

Probably the remains of patients that didn't recover...

timmmers

Convert to Islam

t

surreysaver

JennyB wrote: »

i think it is an implied term of an employment contract that the employee must obey all reasonable and lawful instructions given by the employer. i think you have to grin and bear it... or be in breach of contract!

But I wouldn't say this was a reasonable instruction...

Zazen999

4743hudsonj wrote: »

our contracts simply state we should be smart, clean and wear supplied tee/apron/cap

nothing about this so can i use that?

Personally, I'd use this AND the make up thing.

a - how does wearing fancy dress comply with this instruction? If a higher manager turned up on the day then would you be in breach of contract by NOT wearing the usual supplied clothes.
b - have there been any tests on the make up? - if you have your hair dyed there needs to be a 24 hour patch test to ensure that you are not going to have any reaction to the dye - well, surely the same applies to make up? I personally don't wear make up due to minor allergies and would not even contemplate wearing untested cheap make up in any job.

I'd ask for these issues to be addressed before I complied; including a written letter saying that if you wear the fancy dress, you will not be held to the written uniform guidelines which are in your contract, and until you get written details on the make up that it has been tested by a dermatologist; and that the company are happy to be liable for any skin irritations or allergic reactions that may occur and that this has been covered within any insurance policy that they hold.

donnajunkie

DirtPoorGuy wrote: »

Go to work in costume, dress as a McDonalds employee, see what your boss has to say about that. :rotfl:

it would be keeping within the theme as getting served off a mcdonalds worker is a horrific experience.

Savvy_Sue

On the bus on the way home earlier today, a couple of people behind me were saying how fantastic it had been in Sainsbury's earlier, all the women were dressed as witches and all the men as fairies, complete with tights and wings.

I would probably have walked out.

We then met a 'procession' of zombies, walking down presumably from the University to who knows wear, 100+ of them. Some of them seemed intent on becoming non-living dead, because they continued to step out in front of a moving bus at the traffic lights. They then started throwing themselves at the windows of the bus. Most passengers found this hilarious, sadly I did not.

Call me a grumpy old woman (you wouldn't be the first!) but I just don't like encountering people who appear to have blood running down their faces or all over their clothes. It's very disturbing. In a food shop I just wouldn't put up with it.

hothothot_3

haha well halloween is over now, I hope you survived.

just feel lucky, I worked at a cinema part time as a teenager and had to wear a black lycra catsuit for Charlies Angels coming out, im male by the way, it was totally wrong but at least I didnt have to do real work, just wandered around for a week enjoying the attention.

I also dressed up as the Grinch - but I feel sorry for anybody who is reserved or uncomfortable doing such things - they really shouldnt force it, subway is about sandwhiches after all not much else.

Valli

I used to work for a well know bingo chain and they used to encourage us to dress up. And if I thought it was stupid I didn't do it - not least because we had to pay for our own stuff. So cowboy - check shirt and jeans I could do because I had the stuff. Never did Halloween though - on minimum was I was not going to spend my part time earnngs on stuff to wear and it was fine...mind you I was very good at my job and would be spot on at then end of nmy selling of books -
But I wasn't handling food - so I would think that dressing up would contravene hygene regs and as has been said - if they are paying under minmum wage report them.
I flipping HATE dressing up!
If you are going into a job where you might be asked to wear costume for whatever reason you SHOULD be told this when they offer you the job. If you weren't told at that point then you should be able to refuse to wear costume without the fear of repercussions.