July 17, 2015 at 8:53 am
I'm fortunate. In my current job we can wear whatever is comfortable. Jeans, shorts, tennis shoes, tee shirts. They'd have to pay me to dress up. The only time we have to polish our look is when certain clients are visiting.
July 17, 2015 at 8:58 am
I am rather surprised that so many DBAs, DBDevelopers, and others here are apparently willing to put up with overprscriptive dress codes and even to pay to be allowed to dress casually at work. I'm used to a simple rule: dress so as to look clean and tidy, and where appropriate dress to impress. One company I worked for used to hand out t-shirts as a perk, but mostly I didn't wear them often because it was more convenient to have a shirt with a decent breast pocket if I wasn't wearing a jacket; another company used to issue T-shirts with company logo etc. on them to be worn at trade shows and at conferences so that our presence would be visible. So T-shirts hardly seemed to be non-conformant at either of those companies. Between Oct 1967 and Mar 1969 I wore a suit when visiting Cambridge U and at the Edinburgh IFIP conference (the company required that) but rarely wore one in the office (but did wear a tie); after that I tended to dress casually except when I thought it appropriate to dress formally - nobody gave me any rules to follow except the wear company T-shirt at public events rule I mentioned. Of course some things seemed inappropriate - no-one told me I shouldn't turn up for work in a judogi, but I never did.
And I'm surprised too at the number of people who call jeans comfortable; in decent weather they are thoroughly uncomfortable, light weight cotton or linen slacks are far more comfortable than jeans.
Also surprised at someone's mention of running shoes; I never wore spiked shoes except for athletics and imagine that all of my employers over the users would have objected to people turning up for work in any kind of spikes, whether running or jumping variants. I suspect footwear likely to damage floors would generally be frowned on in offices, but I never considered wearing things like rugby boots to work.
Tom
July 17, 2015 at 9:01 am
My company, located near Las Vegas, allows us to donate to a charity and wear shorts during the summer (June, July, and August). It's $50 a month or $5 a day, or the equivalent in donated clothing, etc. that the charity's thrift store can sell. So our price sounds a little high compared to what was quoted in the editorial, but when it's 110 outside it's worth it to be able to wear shorts to work.
July 17, 2015 at 9:02 am
Matt Miller (#4) (7/17/2015)
Ours uses an option payroll deduction (1$/week) - the employees get to vote on the charity each month and the company matches whatever the employees put in.I thought it a reasonably nice touch. It's just one of several things the company tries to do to keep being good corporate citizens in the communities where our offices are. While I could certainly see potential for the "jaded" view, this is one area where I thought we were talking the talk AND walking the walk.
I don't think this is what people are "jaded" about. Its optional, employees vote on the charity, the company matches, how is that bad? I think this meets the criteria most people commented about. Sounds like a nice program.
Dave
July 17, 2015 at 9:07 am
TomThomson (7/17/2015)
I am rather surprised that so many DBAs, DBDevelopers, and others here are apparently willing to put up with overprscriptive dress codes and even to pay to be allowed to dress casually at work. I'm used to a simple rule: dress so as to look clean and tidy, and where appropriate dress to impress. One company I worked for used to hand out t-shirts as a perk, but mostly I didn't wear them often because it was more convenient to have a shirt with a decent breast pocket if I wasn't wearing a jacket; another company used to issue T-shirts with company logo etc. on them to be worn at trade shows and at conferences so that our presence would be visible. So T-shirts hardly seemed to be non-conformant at either of those companies. Between Oct 1967 and Mar 1969 I wore a suit when visiting Cambridge U and at the Edinburgh IFIP conference (the company required that) but rarely wore one in the office (but did wear a tie); after that I tended to dress casually except when I thought it appropriate to dress formally - nobody gave me any rules to follow except the wear company T-shirt at public events rule I mentioned. Of course some things seemed inappropriate - no-one told me I shouldn't turn up for work in a judogi, but I never did.And I'm surprised too at the number of people who call jeans comfortable; in decent weather they are thoroughly uncomfortable, light weight cotton or linen slacks are far more comfortable than jeans.
Also surprised at someone's mention of running shoes; I never wore spiked shoes except for athletics and imagine that all of my employers over the users would have objected to people turning up for work in any kind of spikes, whether running or jumping variants. I suspect footwear likely to damage floors would generally be frowned on in offices, but I never considered wearing things like rugby boots to work.
Very well put.
Running shoes in the US does not mean spikes. Running shoes, cross trainers, and a number of other athletic shoes can be worn anywhere without hurting the flooring. When we are referring to spikes we usually say soccer cleats, baseball cleats, or just cleats. I didn't see the post you are referring to, but hopefully this helps clear up whatever might have been said.
Dave
July 17, 2015 at 9:16 am
A poorly implemented idea, for two or three reasons:
- The employer is pressuring employees to pay for a perk. Casual Fridays are a small incentive to improve the work environment for employees. Incentives should never come with a price tag (of any value), unless the incentive is a discount on product or services, which casual Fridays are not.
- How an employee dresses on Friday becomes an indicator of that employee's contributions to charity. Maybe someone wouldn't wear jeans on Friday whether there was a charitable contribution or not, but now that behavior suggests a reason. Additionally, odds are good that there's someone who wouldn't normally contribute to the chosen charity, for reasons they keep to themselves because they are irrelevant to their job. Casual Charity Friday sets up a situation where these people may encounter uncomfortable questions they would never have been asked at work otherwise.
- Is this a religious charitable organization? An employer can encourage donations to a religious organization, can provide methods for employees to make donations, but cannot do so in a way that provides workplace benefits or disadvantages based on those donations (at least not in the US).
July 17, 2015 at 9:24 am
In all of my jobs so far I have been able to wear just about anything, including sandals, shorts, t-shirts.
I have actually walked out on two job interviews, when I was told that the company had dress codes ...
July 17, 2015 at 9:31 am
Hi,
We have casual Fridays with a Charity collecting bucket by the entry doors.
Anything in the bucket is doubled by the company and given to this year's charity.
Works well.
July 17, 2015 at 9:54 am
We're very fortunate at our company that we have an extremely relaxed dress code for IT. The only real limitations are closed-toe shoes (so no sandals or flip-flops) and shirts must have a sleeve (no tank tops). We all typically wear shorts every day.
That said, our department is in a satellite office, so we're not customer-facing. Those in the main office have to wear long pants (jeans are okay), and only sales alone are required to wear business casual.
However, anytime we (IT) have to go to the main office, we're expected to also wear long pants, so we all keep an extra pair of jeans at our desks.
July 17, 2015 at 10:00 am
Our company sells jeans day stickers for $5. It's a different charity about every month. An employee pitches the idea to HR and then that employee (and others) sells stickers for 2 days in the cafe over lunch. They usually raise $500-ish dollars.
I think it's a great idea and it works well.
July 17, 2015 at 10:06 am
IowaDave (7/17/2015)
Our company sells jeans day stickers for $5. It's a different charity about every month. An employee pitches the idea to HR and then that employee (and others) sells stickers for 2 days in the cafe over lunch. They usually raise $500-ish dollars.I think it's a great idea and it works well.
Similar to what we do here.
Some SQL to help some out with this idea.
IF (money_paid = dress_casual) -- Dress Casual means jeans, polo shirt, sneakers
BEGIN
IF (money_paid = charity) -- Charities like fighting cancer, diabetes, MS, ALS, etc.., NOT religious organizations
BEGIN
SELECT 'This is a good thing, good company.'
IF (money_paid = company_matches)
BEGIN
SELECT 'This is a great thing, a great company.' -- Where can I apply?
END
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SELECT 'This is a bad thing, bad company.' -- Company keeps the money
-- Look for new job
END
END
-------------------------------------------------------------
we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
July 17, 2015 at 10:14 am
djackson 22568 (7/17/2015)
Matt Miller (#4) (7/17/2015)
Ours uses an option payroll deduction (1$/week) - the employees get to vote on the charity each month and the company matches whatever the employees put in.I thought it a reasonably nice touch. It's just one of several things the company tries to do to keep being good corporate citizens in the communities where our offices are. While I could certainly see potential for the "jaded" view, this is one area where I thought we were talking the talk AND walking the walk.
I don't think this is what people are "jaded" about. Its optional, employees vote on the charity, the company matches, how is that bad? I think this meets the criteria most people commented about. Sounds like a nice program.
Yes - it has in fact turned out that way. It was interesting because the initial reception to it was similar to how this conversation turned out: lukewarm and somewhat skeptical at first, but has gotten stronger over the years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
July 17, 2015 at 10:28 am
I've worked in everything business to totally casual. Currently I'm in a Mon-Thu "jeans business" casual - you can wear jeans but the shirt and shoes are business casual. On Friday's it's "casual" in that you can wear jeans or shorts and even wear sandals.
When I had to wear a shirt-n-tie to work I purchased 'white' dress shirts because they go with everything. So now Mon-Thu it looks like I'm wearing the same clothes everyday. 🙂
July 17, 2015 at 10:56 am
In USA, I worked at different client locations. My general perception is that more of west coast companies allow to wear casuals and more of east coast companies have formal dress code. I dont know about central America 🙂
Thanks,
Naveen.
Every thought is a cause and every condition an effect
July 17, 2015 at 11:06 am
I quite like companies running random charity events. I've been to some really good ones that really lifted the spirits and made plenty of cash for the charity involved. Doubly fun because the company (through the staff forum) chose to sponsor a local charity for a year so the cause was personal to the employees.
"Pay to dress down" sounds the sort of thing a particularly dull accountant would copy off their less imaginative acquaintance. It strikes me as one of those ideas that had good intentions but has the capability to do serious harm to employer/employee relations and not make much money for the charity.
Come on people. Post the most fun charity thing your company has done or encouraged employees to do!
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