Our employees, in protest for having to work today (Good Friday - in the past we have always been closed, but due to several factors, management decided to remain open today), took it upon themselves to wear jeans today. Our dress policy states that jeans are permitted on half day (Thursday and Saturday). Today is Friday. An employee was calling other employees this morning telling them to wear jeans today in protest for having to work. This really angers me. Upper management doesn't seem to want to do anything about it, just to let it go. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I feel that if we let them get away with intentionally violating a bank policy, then they won't have or show any respect for management or bank policy. Or if we just let it go (like we didn't even notice), they will think what?!?! And on the other hand, if we confont them with the intentional violation and put a warning in their personnel file and maybe banning jeans altogether, what will that accomplish? I can see most of them tremble in their shoes...NOT! They would probably laugh. Can anyone help me!?!?! What would you do in this situation?

Send them home without pay to change their clothes. Write them up and make it impact their annual reviews. If you can prove that one person instigated the wholesale rebellion - fire them. They do not work in a democracy and have no right to dictate or ignore policy decisions established by management. They may think that they were being cute, but in a financial institution, the precedent of blatently ignoring policy presents undo risk, both from a financial aspect , but also possibly a physical security aspect that could endanger the lives of bank personnel. They can't pick and choose which policies they need to follow - regardless of the perceived impact.

I would do the same thing Randy so wisely suggests. I've never worked in an institution where this sort of behaviour would be allowed. When we dress inappropriately here, we get sent home, no pay (ok the staff who are paid hourly) to change. If it happens three times they lose their job. The addition of the actions of the employee who called others warrents more severe punishment. If they didn't want to work on Good Friday they should take the day off as a vacation day.

Heck - I'm just amazed your management allows jeans on half-days!!! My company requires pantyhose (not for men of course) any time the doors are open!!! Dresses are preferred but pant suits are allowed. Believe me, these employees you described would never survive here. They should be thankful for what they have rather than showing their behinds when they don't get what they want. Reminds me of my 10 year old!!!

And if you wanted to be punative, send them home for the remainder of the day without pay...or suspend them for a period of time without pay. You need to address it, at whatever level is your call. I think it will be very hard to prove if one employee instigated this, unless he called a member of management as well. All other proof is heresay and I would seriously look for hard proff before firing. Not to say that you couldn't chew them a new one and tell them that if there was proof they would be gone!

Ignore the rebellion, deal with them one at a time just as you would if only one of them did it. If someone asks, "What about everybody else?" say they don't need to worry about everyone else, you only hold them responsible for their actions.

Thank you for all the quick responses. I know that I can always count on my fellow BOLers for some good suggestions (and strong opinions).
And to Beaten Blind...we are a small family owned bank in a rural community. Our dress policy is relaxed in order to reflect our market area. Our farmers wouldn't be very comfortable around a suit and tie! But at the same time, we must present ourselves as professionals...I wouldn't want to see our loan officers in overalls!

Here you are sent home to change with no pay... Dresses and pantyhose for women are a must every single day with no exceptions. They wouldn't even have made it in the door this morning if they worked here.

Heck...the last time I didn't wear panty hose to work they made me go home to get a pair. I am sure glad my wife did the wash.

but you probably don't have issues like this either, do you?

Frenchie, how did it go?

I'm curious how it ended up too!

No disciplinary action was taken. Although, I have drafted a new dress code policy that is alittle more detailed in what is considered appropriate business casual...such as not jeans, tennis shoes, T-shirts, etc and the fact that if their dress is not deemed appropriate by management, then they will be sent home immediately to change. I just passed out the proposed dress code to the employees for feedback and boy is there alot of whispering...so childish. The person who initiated the Jeans in Protest admitted to me today that it was her who mentioned that they should wear jeans in protest. I guess she didn't really mean anything by it (although I feel it was childish), she didn't mind working...so why the protest?!?!? With this new dress code, there will not be anymore violations overlooked...discipline will occur, you can count on it!
The employees here would have a hard time making it at some of your banks. I don't think they realize how good they have it here until someone complaints about someone or something, so we implement detailed written policies or implement changes to be more "fair". That is a whole other topic.

Wow, RELAX! It is just clothes! It's not like they can in dressed like strippers, they just wanted to be comfortable.

Now if the rules allow for comfort, while still requiring some degree of "professional formality" (my bank is good at this) then the tellers need to appreciate that.

A manager of mine at a community bank once said:

If employees have enough time to grumble & complain, they don't have enough to do

I am wearing a jean skirt and sandals, no nylons. What a scandal!! They haven't sent me home!

The community bank I worked at was very strict about the dress code - like what Frenchie is putting in place. Pantsuit or nylons with any dress/skirt, no opened toe shoes, no sleeveless shirts. Why is it that the tellers seemed to be the ones to always push the envelope. Causal day was Wednesday where we could wear khaki's/Dockers with a bank logo shirt or sweater. Never jeans except Saturday at the branch that only had driveup.

HR's motto was: if you question it or have to ask, it is not appropriate

I am not a teller. I am an underwriter and the compliance manager. Our Dress Code just isn't as strict in this small town. Most of our customers are not business people wearing suits and ties. For us my sandals and jean skirt (well below the knee) with a nice sweater is perfectly appropriate. I think it depends on your clients what is or is not appropriate and it should be outlined in your handbooks. If people don't look appropriate, send them home to change. I bet it doesn't happen often. I am, even today, more dressed up than others in slacks.

We'd send you home Beagle Anyone wearing sandels this time of year has to be nuts And nylons keep ya warm silly

Once it gets over 40 degrees in Wisconsin, I feel it's warm enough! I love bare feet. If I didn't have to wear shoes, I never would.

I don't think age as alot to do with it. I think it has more to do with a persons definition of business casual or what is considered professional. I have a 40 year old data processor who will wear a T-shirt with a puppy dog on it with jeans and tennis shoes on Saturdays. Even though she works in the "back" room, she still appears in the lobby to get the work to process several times during the day. This is one reason (besides the "jeans in protest" incident) why I updated and made our dress policy more specific. We are a small bank (like you Beagle Queen) in a small rural community, but there is a fine line between business casual and weekend casual (or in some cases, "going straight home to mow my yard casual"). We say to use good judgment and common sense, but that doesn't mean that everyone has the same level of good judgment and common sense...what might seem appropriate to one person may not seem appropriate to another. That is why there needs to be more specific guidelines in place.