Some companies and organizations require their employees to wear uniform. What are the advantages and disadvantages of wearing uniform?
Setting a dress code in the workplace is becoming increasingly common. In the following paragraphs, I intend to delve into the advantages and disadvantages of wearing uniform at work.
One of the major benefits of a dress code within the office is that it establishes an atmosphere of discipline and uniformity. It ensures that inappropriate or dirty clothing is not worn to work. It is also a social leveler. If everyone is dressed to the same standard, there will be no judgements made towards other employees on the basis of their clothes. Having a uniform also reduces employee confusion: a clear dress code means they don’t have to wonder “what” to wear or whether something would be appropriate to wear to work.
A dress code is also very important in non-office environments, such as in factories, for keeping employees safe. For example, if the employees work around machinery that a tie could get caught in, ties are not appropriate. The same is true of jewellery, belts, scarves, and long hair. Therefore, a dress code keeps employees safe from injury and also allows them to look presentable if clients or visitors come on site. This dress code is also very beneficial for other places of service, such as fast food, or grocery stores. It portrays a feeling of cleanliness when you know the staff is wearing their appropriate uniform, as opposed to if they were wearing their own clothing.
Furthermore, a dress code sets the “tone” of the company. For example, a law office with all the lawyers and associates wearing suits and formal business attire is viewed as being professional and able to handle court cases. How the public perceives a company is important to the type and amount of business it does.
The disadvantages are that it can become very boring to wear the same clothes daily. Secondly, the uniform may not be very comfortable to wear. These disadvantages can, however, be lessened by giving the employees a say in the choice of uniform.
To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, a dress code is very essential nowadays in the workplace. The disadvantages are negligible as compared to the advantages.