Policies on Dress Code for a Small Business

HR Policies for a Small Company to be Included in the Employee Handbook

Abstract

This paper addresses issues related to policies for a small company. The issues addressed herein include dress code policy, technology use, fraternization, and attendance. The paper discusses the relevant laws in the US that apply to the development of policies on these issues. It also offers directives on how the small business should go about shaping policy in accordance with a biblical perspective. For dress code policy, it shows that the Fair Labor Standards Act permits small businesses to mandate uniforms and that mandating a neat and clean appearance is neither unreasonable nor unfair from a biblical point of view. For technology use, it examines the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the rights of employees regarding privacy, and the rights of employees when it comes to using technology while on-duty. It also discusses the ramifications of using social media to denigrate co-workers, managers, customers or the management of the small business. For the policy of fraternization, it recommends the adoption of love contracts to prevent the risk of potential sexual harassment lawsuits should workplace romances come to an end. For attendance policy, it defers to the US Department of Labor, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, when making its recommendations. In all policy development, it is recommended that a biblical perspective be incorporated into the shaping of policy so that each one is produced with the love of employees and the good of the business at heart.

Introduction

Small business policies regarding dress code, technology use, fraternization, and attendance have been addressed by laws in the US. This paper will discuss policies pertinent to these four issues, based upon relevant labor laws. It will also integrate a biblical perspective when addressing these matters.

Dress Code Policy

Dress codes can be important for establishing a workplace culture in a small business (Galadanchi & Bakar, 2018). Moreover, because employees represent the face of the business to customers, expecting them to look their best is complementary to the objectives of the business. A well-dressed or uniformed workforce in a small business is an advantage when it comes to pleasing customers (Lee & Choi, 2020).

However, it is important such dress codes or uniform wearing not be prejudicial to gender or sex (Cochran, 2019). Uniforms, if mandated, should be un-biased in terms of race, gender, sex, age, ethnicity or religion. The Fair Labor Standards Act permits small businesses to mandate uniforms for employees. It is recommended that uniforms be paid for by the business and deducted as a business expense.

The policy should not be overly broad: companies have been challenged in court over overly-broad dress codes, and one court has ruled that a policy that obliges personnel to appear “neat and clean” is permissible—but one that prohibits the wearing of insignia, emblems or buttons that do not represent the company is an over-stepping of boundaries on the part of the business (Martin & Upson, 2018). For that reason, company policy should establish a rule that employees appear “neat and clean,” in uniform or well-dressed, when on duty.

From a biblical perspective, one can see that what matters most is the interior disposition. 1 Peter 3:3-4 states, “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” This should be a reminder to employees that although their own individual tastes may be subjected to the regulations of the company with respect to uniform wearing, they are called by God to reflect their characters in their interior disposition rather than in how the present themselves in dress externally. The uniform is a way for the company to unite its workers and to project a shared culture of excellence. Therefore, no employee should feel as though his identity is being trampled upon because of a uniform policy, for Scripture reminds all that they should focus on the spirit.

Technology Use

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 permits small businesses to monitor employees using technology such as time clocks, video surveillance, GPS systems and other non-invasive technologies, such as monitoring software. The purpose of this technology is to prevent theft and enhance productivity. A small business should make use of monitoring technology for this objective.

Employee use of technology in the workplace is more and more common, and employees should be aware that the National Labor Relations Board assures them that “whether or not you are represented by a union, federal law gives you the right to join together with coworkers to improve your lives at work - including joining together in cyberspace, such as on Facebook” (NLRB, 2021). However, the employee is not protected by law if he disparages the small business in public on social media, denigrates managers or small business owners, or complains about the workplace in a manner that is not complementary to “protected concerted activity,” which is defined as activity among a group that aims to improve working conditions (NLRB, 2021).

Therefore, it should be the policy of the small business to permit social media use in the workplace. But employees should be aware that they are not permitted to belittle the business, its managers, employees, owners or customers in a public manner. They may discuss among themselves via social media ways of improving the company, but any action or posts that appear to the company to be detrimental to its interests insofar as they do not pertain to protected concerted activity will be addressed internally and may lead to the termination or punishment of employees.

With regard to other technology use, such as cell phone use, the NLRB has stated that “employees have a presumptive right, in most instances, under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to use personal phones during breaks and other non-working times” (Pryzbylski, 2019). As cell phones can represent a distraction among employees in a small business, their usage should only be permitted for work-related activities or in the event of a “critical, quality of life activity” while on duty as advised by the NLRB (Pryzbylski, 2019).

From a biblical perspective, it stands to reason that employees of a small business are there to serve the business while on the business’s time. 1 Peter 4:10 states, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Service is the hallmark of the Christian way of life; therefore, it is imperative that employees of a small business orient themselves to serving the work place while they are on the clock. If they want to use technology for non-work related purposes, they may do so while on break or off-duty, barring a critical, quality of life activity that necessitates such usage.

Fraternization

Fraternization must not be defined too broadly. However, it is often important that fraternization policies be in place to prevent risks of sexual harassment or intimidation between managers and subordinates or among employees (Von Bergen, 2020). No-dating policies among employees and between managers and subordinates have been upheld in court (Ellis v. United Parcel Services, 2008). At the same time, the Supreme Court has ruled that banning consensual relationships among people in a workplace can constitute an invasion of privacy if the relationship is conducted in private (Lawrence v. Texas, 2002).

To permit employees to have private lives in accordance with their wishes, it should be the policy of the small business to permit fraternization of a romantic nature among its employees. However, if such relationships do develop, the small business should make an effort to reduce the risk of sexual harassment charges being followed should a relationship end. To this purpose, the small business should have a policy of adopting “love contracts that memorialize the consensual nature of the relationship and that if the romance ends the employees will not sue the employer for harassment” (Von Bergen, 2020, p. 141). Such a contract would require the disclosure of the individuals involved in a romantic relationship to the small business, but this is a formality that is done for risk-management purposes.

From a biblical perspective, it is important to remember that God does not permit one to sin: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). Men and women were created to come together as a union in holy matrimony and to have children that may be raised up to give glory to God. Therefore, it should not be the will of the small business to interfere with what God has ordained. But such romantic love should be sacramental and holy: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).

Attendance

It is important that employees show up for work, but it is understood that absences will occur. Absences can be categorized in three ways: excused, unexcused and no fault. The small business should adopt a policy that holds excused and no fault absences as a cost of doing business. However, unexcused absences cannot be tolerated. The Americans for Disabilities Act applies to small businesses that employ more than 15 people. It stipulates that the business must allow extended leave for employees who have a disability.

Attendance policy should be clearly defined. The employee should know how much time he has to report an absence in relation to when he is supposed to be on duty. This policy should be enforced equally for all employees.

Attendance policy should also abide by regulations stipulated by the US Department of Labor, which holds that a business is not obliged to pay an exempt employee for a work week in which the employee has not been at work. There are, however, other considerations to be made, such as how the business handles pregnancy leave. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits a small business of 15 or more employees from firing a woman who is pregnant or preventing her from returning to work for a time after the baby is born. Moreover, she is permitted by law to work up until the time she leaves; the business cannot restrict her from working just because she is pregnant. This law is enforced by the Equal Employee Opportunity Commission. A small business must be mindful of the needs of its employees when setting its attendance policy so as to preserve a good relationship with employees while maintaining the kind of strict discipline needed to ensure that the interests of the business are not neglected (Stumbitz, Lewis & Rouse, 2018).