WARMER weather can throw up problems for employers and send temperatures soaring in the boardroom, a leading lawyer yesterday warned.
As the heat rises, decorum can often go out of the window, with shorts, strappy tops, sandals and skimpy dresses
revealing rather too much for the average workplace.
But companies relying on informal rules may not be able to impose a dress code on wayward employees, said Sheila Gunn, head of employment law at Shepherd & Wedderburn, one of the "big-four" Scottish law firms.
"While an organisation may tolerate less formal clothing over the summer months, it is vital that the limitations are clearly defined in a written policy if it wants to enforce boundaries," Gunn warns.
"In every organisation, employers need to clearly spell out to their employees the standards expected at work. It can include a ban on things like piercings, ultra-short mini skirts and jeans."
Employers can legitimately impose requirements for office wear – to project the right company image for example, adds Gunn.
FACT OF DAY
£50,645THE average annual City pay without bonuses, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley, which hires mainly for investment banks, hedge funds and asset managers.
The figure has edged down 1 per cent since a year ago, but is 5 per cent higher than in May. The number of new jobseekers, which includes both the unemployed and those looking to change jobs, rose 17 per cent from June 2007.
KILLER QUOTE"IT IS not in a landlord's interests to see a tenant go under. Retailers who are in trouble will find landlords willing to explore options to help them."
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation
GOOD DAY
Tupperware THAT bastion of 1970s chic is still going strong, with Tupperware reporting a slight rise in second-quarter profits to $36 million (£18m), up from $35.5m a year ago.
Sales for the company, which makes plastic food storage containers, rose by 18.4 per cent to $583.6m, up from $492.9m in the second quarter of last year.
BAD DAY
Malcolm Calvert THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) is due to launch a criminal prosecution for alleged insider dealing against a former trader at Cazenove, the UK investment bank which holds a 50 per cent stake in JPMorgan Cazenove.
After being accused of not doing enough to tackle insider dealing and market abuse, the FSA has hardened its stance.
The case against Calvert, who retired from Cazenove in 2000, is only the FSA's second.
The full article contains 426 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
