Uniforms

amc

My company does manufacturing and fabricating. Recently we went through a merger and occupy two location. One location has mandatory uniforms for all production workers and the other doesn't. What value do you feel having company wide uniforms provides? Does your company pay any portion of the cost? Under what criteria? Overall, what are the pros and cons of a uniform requirement? Thanks for your help!

sonny

We are a municipality and field and office workers are supplied shirts (5) at no charge to the employee. Field workers have a choice of t-shirts or work shirts, we have a choice of several colors/styles of oxfords. Office workers can get 5 more shirts and have all 10 laundered for $4 per check. I love it. .looks more professional and saves money on clothes. Wearing them is not mandatory tho, only complaint I've heard is people just don't like them.

bobbysmom

My company fabricates pipe and we have a voluntary uniform program that the cost is solely subsidized by the employee. The employee must sign a uniform agreement if they decide to participate and it outlines what our expectations are during their participation and when and if, they leave the company. We allow payroll deduction and to date, I've only had one case where one employee who quit did not turn in all their uniforms and we had to deduct the cost from the employee's final paycheck. The employee challenged our action but I was able to prove to the wage and labor department that the employee was aware of their responsibility and we were within our rights to deduct the amount he owed the company.

I think the uniform program is a good idea since those who participate in the program like the convenience of not having to worry about what to wear the next day, it saves on their own personal clothing. If you decide to do this, make sure you have a signed agreement outlining what the employee's responsibilities are, etc. and most importantly, who is responsible for getting with the employee when they terminate.

hrqueen

We are a small manufacturing site near Chicago. Our plant (union) employees are provided uniforms daily and the uniforms are laundered by the uniform service. We have a dusty environment and we do not want our employees laundering work clothes along with their regular laundry, so the company pays for the entire cost of this service. We have other sites throughout the United States and some provide uniforms and some do not.

Don D

Can't resist telling you something funny about our uniform program. About 6 months ago, we made a decision to discontinue the program. It was voluntary and we payroll deducted the costs. I wrote a personal letter to each ee who was participating. Very few were and it was voluntary. A couple of days later Daniel stopped me in the plant and told me he didn't particularly like our decision to stop the uniform program. His reasoning was something I had never, ever thought of, but I guess it makes sense. Daniel said that the uniform program actually helped him in the romance department. He explained that when a woman sees a man in uniform, she pretty much can assume he has a job and that translates to money in his pocket. And now, Daniel explained, without a uniform, he'll be at a disadvantage in hooking up.

amc

Thanks for all your input

amc