Since employees typically are the first contact made with a company it is often necessary to control that image projected. In the past, employers used dress and appearance policies to help employees work comfortably and safely while still projecting a professional image to clients, customers and future employees. Over the years employers have also used dress and appearance policies to help create an employment brand.Today, and especially post-pandemic, dress and appearance policies require us to develop strategies that align with both employer goals and culture and, at the same time, protect us from discrimination claims and “push-back” from our employees. HR is on the front lines of policy development and enforcement and we need to work with other parts of the organization to ensure that dress codes are managed consistently and fairly.Areas Covered How to establish an acceptable and legal dress code policyWhat are the latest issues with gender orientation and identityHow to change your company dress code (or institute one) without causing a revoltHow to handle provocative or inappropriate clothing?Where dress codes and discrimination claims meet (and how to avoid them)Where the legal line is drawn when you have separate dress codes for men and womenHow to tailor your dress code to fit workers in different types of Jobs - From the warehouse to the corner officeHow to effectively communicate your dress code expectations to workersDealing with employees who consistently push the dress code envelopeWho Should AttendHuman Resource SupervisorHuman Resource Manager, Director, Vice PresidentManagers and Directors of operational unitsWhy Should You Attend Pre-Covid, the concept of “professional dress” was under severe strain. Today, as we begin to return to the office, employees are using traditional discrimination concepts in making claims of lifestyle discrimination based upon sexual orientation, gender-identity, physical appearance, piercings, tattoos, smoking and other privacy/personal issues.At what point does the employee’s right to self-expression interfere with the employer’s right to set boundaries?Topic BackgroundDress codes are used to communicate to employees what the organization considers appropriate work attire. The policy allows us to set expectations regarding the image we want to portray. At the same time there has been a decided interest in dress codes from federal and state agencies and, in particular, the EEOC Employers realize that impressions made on clients and customers are important to the success of an organization.