What to wear
The dreaded question we ask ourselves each morning! What will I wear??
Well to give you a guide, Monday to Thursday, it's corporate business dress in the office, which can be a business shirt, or polo shirt and trousers or skirt, suit and tie, business style dresses and tops. Use your best judgement and make sure it's suitable for the workplace, and that it looks clean, wrinkle-free and professional.
Just remember to keep in mind what you have on that day and who you might be meeting with, and ensure you dress appropriately.
Every Friday you can bust out your jeans if you like, as it's casual dress day - yay! If you choose to go casual on a Friday, you'll be asked to make a gold coin donation which goes to charity.
Of course it still needs to be appropriate for a professional office environment, so nothing revealing, or torn, frayed or that might have offensive motifs, and when it comes to footwear, no thongs and definitely no bare feet!! Ew!!
If you are seeing a customer on a Friday, you'll have to either revert to corporate business dress or bring these with you to change into.
For more tips and advice, see some excerpts below from our Personal Presentation Policy:
General grooming and hygiene
Within the work environment you are expected to maintain a professional standard of personal grooming and hygiene. As a basic guide:
- hair should be clean, neat and tidy beards and moustaches should be clean and neatly trimmed
- visible tattoos, body piercings and associated jewellery should be covered as much as possible
- good personal hygiene should be practiced ensuring limited potential for body odour.
Business casual dress
At WorkCover, every Friday is designated as a casual dress day. Casual dress encompasses many looks but it really means business casual clothing that is appropriate for a professional office environment. It should be clothing that allows you to be comfortable at work yet always look neat and professional. If you have customer visits, then you must ensure you wear or have corporate dress attire with you to change into, prior to visiting or meeting customers.
Casual dress on Friday is not compulsory, so if you wish to still wear corporate dress, you should feel free to do so. Listed below is an overview of acceptable business casual wear, as well as some of the more common items that are not acceptable/appropriate for an office environment. Obviously, the list below is not intended to be all-inclusive. These items below should help you get an idea of the general parameters in which we trust you to make good judgements about.
A good rule of thumb is that if you are not sure if something is acceptable/appropriate, choose something else or enquire first with your manager.
Jeans/Pants—Jeans are acceptable as long as they have no distressing or rips. Inappropriate items include sweat pants, shorts, bib overalls, lycra and other form-fitting pants and pants that are excessively worn or faded.
Shirts—Casual t-shirts and polo shirts, are acceptable. Again, these should be items that have not been excessively worn or faded. Avoid tank tops, halter tops, shirts with large lettering or logos, and any tops with bare shoulders unless worn under another blouse or jacket. Avoid clothes that are distracting and revealing.
Dresses/skirts—Casual dresses and skirts are acceptable. Mini-skirts and spaghetti strap dresses are considered inappropriate.
Footwear—Items such as loafers, boots, flats, athletic/sport shoes, sneakers, sandals and leather casual shoes are acceptable. Footwear should be in presentable, good condition. Thongs and slippers are considered unacceptable.
Personal hygiene and general grooming—Maintaining well-kept hair, good personal hygiene, and general neat grooming is expected (as usual).
Corporate dress
WorkCover's personal presentation standard of corporate dress is based on 'dressing for your day'. What you wear can range from formal business wear to relaxed business wear. You should exercise good judgement and dress for the day according to any meetings, functions or any events you have planned. At all times it is about dressing for your audience and demonstrating a professional image. If you are uncertain of what to wear for a particular meeting, always dress conservatively.
Typically, corporate business dress can include a business shirt, or polo shirt and trousers or skirt, suit and tie, business style dresses and tops. As always, your attire needs to be suitable for the workplace and should be clean, unwrinkled, and look professional.
Corporate dress does not include denim, sportswear, t-shirts, shorts, hats, inappropriate footwear such as thongs, revealing clothing, shoestring straps and clothing that is frayed, torn or displays offensive motifs.
It is acknowledged there may be reasons that may prevent or discourage you from following these guidelines. In such situations, you and your manager are encouraged to discuss an equitable solution.
What happens when you do not meet the presentation standards?
If your personal presentation does not meet the requirements of this policy (as determined in consultation with your manager) you will be notified and asked to correct your presentation.
This may require you to stop wearing an item of clothing, change your grooming and hygiene, or you may be sent home to correct your presentation. Continual failure to meet the requirements of this policy may result in disciplinary action.
At any time, if you are uncertain of what is appropriate, please discuss this with your manager.