Who pays for company clothes to be cleaned?

redbox725

Firstly I didn't put this in the tax and rebate section as that isn't the question.
The question is this.
If my company owns my work clothes, i.e. if I leave by whatever means they are company property and stay with the company. Then who has to clean them?
My works has brought in a new policy that states my uniform must be cleaned every day that I wear it, problem is I don't actually own it, for want of better words i simply borrow the uniform every time i work yet they want me to take it home and clean it by whatever means, surely they can't insist that I take the companies property offsite and pay myself for it to be cleaned? Thats like insisting that the cloth i use to clean the display cabinets must be taken by me to be cleaned or a knife i use must be taken.

Please do not comment about uniform tax rebate i don't earn enough to pay tax (I wish i could get the hours believe me) therefore if I don't pay it I can't reclaim it but that isn't the point anyway.

Thanks


Marcus

Takeaway_Addict

you in short

arbroath_lass

If you didn't have work clothes what would you wear? Would you not wash them?

What is the issue? Are they dry clean only?

redbox725

The issue is that I don't own them the company does. All the information I can find is based around you being given the clothes which are then yours to keep. I also don't eran enough to pay tax so i cant get a rebate so this will cost me a fair portion of my wage to clean something that does not belong to me.

Also the argument of what would you wear is irrelevant, if work didnt provide a till I wouldn't be able to take money over the counter however I uses it every day but they do not insist that i take that home with me to clean because I do not own it, just like I do not own the clothes.

Takeaway_Addict

Is it really that hard to stick them in with some other clothes?

redbox725

I don't do the washing 6 days a week so that is out of the question, also the uniform comprises of dark pants and a red shirt, both of which make it difficult just to throw in with nay other wash

DCFC79

redbox725 wrote: »

Firstly I didn't put this in the tax and rebate section as that isn't the question.
The question is this.
If my company owns my work clothes, i.e. if I leave by whatever means they are company property and stay with the company. Then who has to clean them?
My works has brought in a new policy that states my uniform must be cleaned every day that I wear it, problem is I don't actually own it, for want of better words i simply borrow the uniform every time i work yet they want me to take it home and clean it by whatever means, surely they can't insist that I take the companies property offsite and pay myself for it to be cleaned? Thats like insisting that the cloth i use to clean the display cabinets must be taken by me to be cleaned or a knife i use must be taken.

Please do not comment about uniform tax rebate i don't earn enough to pay tax (I wish i could get the hours believe me) therefore if I don't pay it I can't reclaim it but that isn't the point anyway.

Thanks


Marcus

redbox725 wrote: »

The issue is that I don't own them the company does. All the information I can find is based around you being given the clothes which are then yours to keep. I also don't eran enough to pay tax so i cant get a rebate so this will cost me a fair portion of my wage to clean something that does not belong to me.

Also the argument of what would you wear is irrelevant, if work didnt provide a till I wouldn't be able to take money over the counter however I uses it every day but they do not insist that i take that home with me to clean because I do not own it, just like I do not own the clothes.

redbox725 wrote: »

I don't do the washing 6 days a week so that is out of the question, also the uniform comprises of dark pants and a red shirt, both of which make it difficult just to throw in with nay other wash

What do the other employees do if they don't do the washing 6 days a week ?

ellie99

How are your company going to enforce the rule of " your uniform must be cleaned every day?"
Are they going to inspect you to see if you look clean enough?
If you think your clothes are clean enough for another wear how will they be able to tell any different? And if they're not clean enough, well surely you would wash them anyway, even without this ruling?
I'd be happy to wash a work uniform, regardless of whether I owned it or not. What's so great about owning it, if you leave you'll probably not want to wear it again anyway.

WestonDave

If you are working 6 days per week and not earning enough to pay tax, I'd suggest looking for another job, and in the meantime keep your head down and your clothes washed so you get a decent reference when you do move on. This sort of petty griping from an employee is going to put you last in line for promotions, payrises and good shift allocations, and first in line for finding a reason to get rid if they need to cut staff.

If the uniform isn't getting particularly dirty, just rinse it out most nights and hang it up to dry, maybe wash it properly once or twice a week.

arbroath_lass

redbox725 wrote: »

I don't do the washing 6 days a week so that is out of the question, also the uniform comprises of dark pants and a red shirt, both of which make it difficult just to throw in with nay other wash

If you only have one uniform I'd be asking for a couple more at least so you can wash two and wear one. It's not the washing that'd be a problem for me it's the drying.

Rinse through in the sink if the washing machine isn't going on.

Otherwise I think you are being ridiculous. You don't sweat in the till do you :eek:

As the others have said - who will check you've washed it?

ScribbleNInk

arbroath_lass wrote: »

If you only have one uniform I'd be asking for a couple more at least so you can wash two and wear one. It's not the washing that'd be a problem for me it's the drying.

Rinse through in the sink if the washing machine isn't going on.

Otherwise I think you are being ridiculous. You don't sweat in the till do you :eek:

As the others have said - who will check you've washed it?

Yeah I was thinking exactly this - it seems like it wouldn't be at all unreasonable for you to ask for more than one set of work clothes. Try explaining to your line manager. If they really want the uniform clean every single day they need to provide more than one.