Worse Than a Low Wage Job? A Low Wage Job with a Dress Code!

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/07/15/worse-than-a-low-wage-job-a-low-wage-job-with-a-dress-code/

“They Pretend to Pay Us And We Pretend to Work” used to be attributed to the employment situation in the former Soviet Union. But in today’s “jobless recovery,” US workers are also performing low-wage jobs with no benefits, future and, sometimes, purpose. Jobs whose main perks are air-conditioning, access to the Internet and service to the dictum that an already employed person is more likely to get hired elsewhere.

Needless to say, people don’t display a lot of apparel respect for such gigs. That’s why around this time of year, many companies circulate a dress code memo.

These codes always appeal to “common sense” and “good taste” even from companies whose concept of good taste includes making employees wear price item buttons for store merchandise at their collarbones.

Memos usually begin banning jeans, shorts, cutoffs, T-shirts, tank tops, undershirts (aka “wife beaters”) sweat pants and workout clothes (read: Lycra and Spandex), tennis shoes, boots and sandals.

More at the link --

are the ones that have to have the company name and logo on their apparel

or even better, you have to buy the uniform from the company

even if you have a perfect product in the same color with the same embroidery and it's a different material (say one prefers under armour to poor quality cotton)
one still has to wear and purchase the over priced thing and often enough stand listening to some manager or office rat try to dazzle the world with bullsh.. that we employees are saving so much getting a shirt for a mere $15 when the company sells the same shirt at $50 to the public

being in receiving, i pointed out to the office rat that the company is maintaining stock ANYWAY so storage isn't an issue and cost into the store including shipping for that same sweater is 10 bucks (on file)

when messing with people, never mess with the ones that know the numbers, numbers are sharp, juggling them will get you cut


for anyone not understanding why 15 vs 10 dollar cost to employee matters
look at it from the perspective of 5 days a week with no washing machine access at home
so 5 shirts, of middlin cotton quality lasting about 6 months
that's 5 times 5 (the profit the company makes on the shirt) times 2 (full year)
company is reaping 50 bucks on the shirt requirement
hey..that's not a lot...min wage work florida is 7 ish dollars, after all deductions you cash out what 5.50 max?
so end up loosing day and a half of work to company profit per year

When the company decides next week "Ah, don't like those colors...gotta change em!", so you gotta buy some new ones.

we would have sale days where we were required to wear (longish) shorts...but the girls were required to wear pantyhose with them. I was not happy, am not a fan of pantyhose, and felt ridiculous, like I was in Three's Company. Oddly enough though when I wore dresses without hose no one said anything..so go figure.