the hospital that i work at has just started a policy that requires all employees to dress ''business casual'' when coming to work, at work, and leaving work...i am an ob nurse that wears scrubs..i come to work, change into hospital furnished scrubs, clock in and work....the policy now states, no jeans, gym shoes or sandals (unless wearing hose) will be worn to or from work...most nurses, wearing scrubs at work, don't own business casual....question: can a hospital require a dress policy when we haven't clocked in yet....?
Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.
Is it wrong? Yeah.
Is it legal? Hard to say.
Will you get more flack for bucking the system in this instance? Probably - you gotta ask yourself how important this is to you, and be prepared to accept the consequences for pushing in a particular situation.
If you are an employee at will then the answer is yes they can. If you are covered by a Union contract then it is up to the contract or it becomes negotiable.
You got THAT right !!! :angryfire That's the biggest load of bull I've ever heard !
I'd buy a HUGE mu-mu and wear that with a nice pair of ugly, garage sale, outdated flats....Hey, It's a dress, right?? Or they'd be sick of seeing me in the same khaki's and T-shirt EVERY DAY!!
Give me a break...obviously some one who has never even WORN scrubs made that one up!!
Yeah, i'd look at your state's Dept of Labor web-site...or look in the white pages and give them a call. I'm thinking if they have a seperate entrance for employees they can't make you do that...but you had better find out before you buck the system.
That's really weird. The hospital you work at does it allow you to wear your own scrubs or hospital scrubs. If I was you and they allowed any type of scrubs, I would just wear my own.
Seems to me, they can say something about looking respectful, but it certainly is ridiculous to say one has to be biz casual, that is expensive, will they provide a clothing allowance??
It is so irritating when the hospital makes a policy that effects everyone, when it was probably one person who came in looking rusque by someone else's standards.
If you are walking through the hospital ... wearing your ID badge ... parking for free in the employee lot (may be interpreted as a form of compensation) ... clearly identifying yourself as a representative of their hospital ... Many people would say they have a right to establish some guidelines as to how you look when you represent them, particularly on their property.
I am sure that most employees would claim, "I am an employee!" before clocking in if there were ever any trouble/incident in which being an employee would be to their advantage. If you were injured in the lobby before clocking in, you would qualify for Worker's Compensation. So, expecting you to act and dress like an employee is not unreasonable.
As some others in this thread have suggested, it's probably easy and cheap to meet this requirement by buying just a few minimum and inexpensive items. There are more important things to get all worked up about.
The only dress code that our OR and Maternity floors have when it comes to what you wear into and out of the building is to not be tacky (ex. Daisy Dukes, boobs hanging out, thong hanging out). Doesn't matter what's worn just as long as it's decent.
AmyLiz
952 Posts
that makes two of us.