Casual Dress at work

[Hoov]

Hey everyone, need to vent for a minute. My regional director just walked into our unit looks at me and goes "oh, is this a causal day" all snooty like. im wearing nice shirt with jeans, black shoes (no sneakers) and dark socks.

First, my center director, secretary/unit clerk and almost everyone else here wears nursing scrubs.

Second, my regional director who's getting on my case is wearing a t shirt and slax, pretty casual IMO.

Third, I've done everything she and my center director ever asked of me without complaining, im doing administrative duties, i run the meetings with the doc's cause no one else has been in this field long enough to know how. This regional director has cut my hours and at the same time asked me to take on more responsibilities while i just found out that at another of our unit's - someone with the same job title as me has fewer patients but is still at 40 hours/week, the reason my hours were cut is due to my patient load, they said i didnt have enough patients to stay at 40 hours but this other person has less patients than me.

When i walked into my center directors office and the regional director was in there, she didnt even say hello or address me in an appropriate manner, just commented on my dress "is this a casual day" I didnt even look at her, i just snapped, "yes, it is" and walked out.

If she comes in my office and starts giving me crap, im afraid im going to curse her out so bad i'll get fired on the spot. So, someone please share a funny story bout casual dress day at work or something similar to make me laugh and cool of a bit.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I am wearing a jersey that says Stoners across the back.

The wife liked the colors and got it for me from Steve and Barrys....she said she did not want to get me another WVU or Marshall Jersey since I already have a few.

So I looked on google for football teams and the name Stoners.

I found out that there was (and may still be for all I know) a football team (actually soccer) in Pennsylvania called the stoners....after that I have been wearing it to work and if anyone gives me a hard time I can say it is or was a real football team lol.

Also I have a T-Shirt, It is the one I was wearing in my pics, that is Captain Bones Deep Diving and has a bunch of sayings that insinuates diving with a female in a manner of speaking. A few people said something about it but I said the only way you can take it as dirty is if you are thinking dirty as it is vague.

The director at my work, a female, saw it one day and said...I like your shirt lol....not sure if she didn't get it or did. After all one time she told me she had a dream I was bringing her breakfast in bed.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Well, I work at a law firm. Apparently the administrative staff had to battle with the partners to allow us to wear biz-casual. Their idea of biz-casual is not the norm. It's one step below professional dress. There is no casual day. Jeans and Tees are only allowed after we've donated to whatever charity org they're pimping that week and we have to wear the firm Tee.

I had one job where all the women had to wear skirts and dresses everyday when we were in the office, but if we were at a job site, we could adopt the dress policy of that company.

On the other hand, when I worked at Wells Fargo in the proof dept, the folks in there took casual to a whole new level. I swear you'd have thought some folks had just rolled out of bed.

Saying this all to say, I don't get too uptight about dress code at work, anymore. I just buy whatever clothes I need and then adapt. Sounds like your reg. director has an issue w/u wearing jeans, just confirm it and then don't wear them anymore.

 

[Hoov]

I am wearing a jersey that says Stoners across the back.

The wife liked the colors and got it for me from Steve and Barrys....she said she did not want to get me another WVU or Marshall Jersey since I already have a few.

So I looked on google for football teams and the name Stoners.

I found out that there was (and may still be for all I know) a football team (actually soccer) in Pennsylvania called the stoners....after that I have been wearing it to work and if anyone gives me a hard time I can say it is or was a real football team lol.

Also I have a T-Shirt, It is the one I was wearing in my pics, that is Captain Bones Deep Diving and has a bunch of sayings that insinuates diving with a female in a manner of speaking. A few people said something about it but I said the only way you can take it as dirty is if you are thinking dirty as it is vague.

The director at my work, a female, saw it one day and said...I like your shirt lol....not sure if she didn't get it or did. After all one time she told me she had a dream I was bringing her breakfast in bed.

Brain, she has the hots for you !! Better be careful when she invites you in her office to review some reports after hours .

Seems like you dont really have a dress code at you work, thats cool. Love the Tshirts and the way you justify wearing them. Thats Great, Thanks man, i had a feeling you would respond to this thread.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Brain, she has the hots for you !! Better be careful when she invites you in her office to review some reports after hours .

Seems like you dont really have a dress code at you work, thats cool. Love the Tshirts and the way you justify wearing them. Thats Great, Thanks man, i had a feeling you would respond to this thread.

We used to have a dress code....but since I am pretty much in my one office all day and only deal with people via email or the phone I can pretty much wear what I want as long as it is in good shape and not over the top with stuff.

Except no tank tops, flip flops, shorts, muscle shirts and so on.

But to be honest if the director ever jumped my case on anything I would give her an ear full about her skirts being very short.

 

[Hoov]

Well, I work at a law firm. Apparently the administrative staff had to battle with the partners to allow us to wear biz-casual. Their idea of biz-casual is not the norm. It's one step below professional dress. There is no casual day. Jeans and Tees are only allowed after we've donated to whatever charity org they're pimping that week and we have to wear the firm Tee.

I had one job where all the women had to wear skirts and dresses everyday when we were in the office, but if we were at a job site, we could adopt the dress policy of that company.

On the other hand, when I worked at Wells Fargo in the proof dept, the folks in there took casual to a whole new level. I swear you'd have thought some folks had just rolled out of bed.

Saying this all to say, I don't get too uptight about dress code at work, anymore. I just buy whatever clothes I need and then adapt. Sounds like your reg. director has an issue w/u wearing jeans, just confirm it and then don't wear them anymore.

Yeah, im pretty sure its the jeans. the thing is she holds me to a different standard then others who work in the same position and she really doesn't like me so there's already tension involved. Plus she's here like once a month, just walks in and starts criticizing when she has no idea whats really going on and whats involved in managing the patients, she just demands "good outcomes, good numbers".

Think she would like to fire me, but i haven't done anything to give her the opportunity and the company is already having a hard time keeping staff so she would prolly take some time to hire someone else and then theyd have to be trained. plus no one else here know how to manage quality assurance meetings that must be done monthly, and im not offering to teach anyone either.

 

[Hoov]

We used to have a dress code....but since I am pretty much in my one office all day and only deal with people via email or the phone I can pretty much wear what I want as long as it is in good shape and not over the top with stuff.

Except no tank tops, flip flops, shorts, muscle shirts and so on.

But to be honest if the director ever jumped my case on anything I would give her an ear full about her skirts being very short.

Wish she was my boss

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Yeah, im pretty sure its the jeans. the thing is she holds me to a different standard then others who work in the same position and she really doesn't like me so there's already tension involved. Plus she's here like once a month, just walks in and starts criticizing when she has no idea whats really going on and whats involved in managing the patients, she just demands "good outcomes, good numbers".

Think she would like to fire me, but i haven't done anything to give her the opportunity and the company is already having a hard time keeping staff so she would prolly take some time to hire someone else and then theyd have to be trained. plus no one else here know how to manage quality assurance meetings that must be done monthly, and im not offering to teach anyone either.

Yes it just sounds like she does not like you and is looking for an excuse to rip on you since she knows she can't afford to fire you at this time.

Maybe you farted in your office one day and she walked in

Seriously do you remember doing anything or saying anything that would make her not like you?

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Wish she was my boss

Nah...not unless you like some scrawny chicken legged woman who looks kind of like sandy duncan playing Peter Pan lol.

She has some serious mood swings and the others in the front offices are always complaining about her but do not have the guts to say anything to her about it.

There is a difference between being a good employee and just taking a verbal lashing from the boss at times.

She knows not to treat me that way as I have spoken my mind to her before when she started in on me.

I have to say it is a wonder I have never been fired when you consider I got her down the road one time so bad she was crying in front of others lol.

 

[Hoov]

Yes it just sounds like she does not like you and is looking for an excuse to rip on you since she knows she can't afford to fire you at this time.

Maybe you farted in your office one day and she walked in

Seriously do you remember doing anything or saying anything that would make her not like you?

Yes....my previous center director used to let me do "flex time". basically she said i dont care if you get here a little late or leave a little early as long as your work is done and i know i can count on you to help me with whatever the unit needs.

Well, she used to come and go and set her own hours as well. The unit was run pretty loose, everyone was like family and we all got along well. Then some staffing turnovers brought new employees and one of them called the regional director complaining bout a bunch of things that in her oppionion were "unprofessional" and my name was thrown in with the center director as someone who cuts out early sometimes, so the regional director got really pissed at both of us. But i know the workers at other units and those who are salary and not hourly also cut out early or arrive a little late sometimes, its just that now i have a bad reputation with this. (i do tend to be 10-15 minutes late with a lot of things, im just not always aware of time management).

The thing is that this person who called and complained is the type to do everything by the book, come in right on time, leave right on time.....but never does anywork when here, she doesn't do much to help the patients, i end up doing her social work and insurance BS because the patients need meds that are hard to get insurance coverage for and if i dont do it no one will cause everyone acts stupid like they dont know how. So she looks like the model emplyee, but im the one making a difference for the patients in the unit and helping improve outcomes.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

So, someone please share a funny story bout casual dress day at work or something similar to make me laugh and cool of a bit.

I don't know that it's a funny story, but it might give you hope.

My husband's first computer related job was in programming and the company was the biggest software developer in the state and followed the Microsoft business causal idea for programmers - ie, no tie needed.

Them he moved on to an IT job where he had an insecure boss who was so threatened by other folks experience or education that the way he compensated was by enforcing a draconian dress code. One very hot summer week the entire AC system broke down and after a few days of it, my hubby refused to wear a tie.

This clown actually sent him home to get it. I thought either I'd be listening to a homicide report on the radio soon, or we'd be scanning the want ads. But I convinced him to go back with the tie ..with MUCH difficulty,and that it wasn't worth leaving a good job over.

Lo and behold, five years later the head techie of IT systems at a multi hospital HMO is my baby, and this jerk who didn't know RPG or Unix, but dressed like Beau Brunnell comes flouncing in looking for work. Human Resources has hiring responsibilities but no one gets hired in IT unless my hubby says he wants him or her. :

I had hoped my boy could rise above such past tribulations and just consider the man's resume, but no, LOL..he's just your basic neanderthal.

Morale of story I hope is clear. :

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Ahhh I get it.

Well I never cared for the come in late people at work....I am one of those that is always early...one of those that if I am right on time it feels like I am running late.

But to be fair it seemed like that was how your place was set up before and ran and once in a habit of things it is hard to change and get used to it.

As far as how the person does not do stuff, but probably takes credit for it, that happens in many places of work.

I remember me and another guy here went to a meeting with the state and the director went with us.

The whole time during the meeting when we are talking technical and other areas she just looked lost and the only actually question she had for the one guy in charge at the state was, and I am not lying...."where did you get that pen? It is really nice"

Now she is not that bad in all areas....but more of the technical stuff.

I mean I wrote the handbook (instruction manual(s)) for the many of states data entry for Workers Comp and DHHR forms (for the over the internet and just through the states intranet).

Yet sometimes she would say she knew stuff about what I was saying and I knew I was lost and would have to show her lol.

Anyways there are just some people like that.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Lo and behold, five years later the head techie of IT systems at a multi hospital HMO is my baby, and this jerk who didn't know RPG or Unix, but dressed like Beau Brunnell comes flouncing in looking for work. Human Resources has hiring responsibilities but no one gets hired in IT unless my hubby says he wants him or her. :

I had hoped my boy could rise above such past tribulations and just consider the man's resume, but no, LOL..he's just your basic neanderthal.

Morale of story I hope is clear. :

Sometimes revenge is a good thing.

 

[Hoov]

Ahhh I get it.

Well I never cared for the come in late people at work....I am one of those that is always early...one of those that if I am right on time it feels like I am running late.

But to be fair it seemed like that was how your place was set up before and ran and once in a habit of things it is hard to change and get used to it.

As far as how the person does not do stuff, but probably takes credit for it, that happens in many places of work.

I remember me and another guy here went to a meeting with the state and the director went with us.

The whole time during the meeting when we are talking technical and other areas she just looked lost and the only actually question she had for the one guy in charge at the state was, and I am not lying...."where did you get that pen? It is really nice"

Now she is not that bad in all areas....but more of the technical stuff.

I mean I wrote the handbook (instruction manual(s)) for the many of states data entry for Workers Comp and DHHR forms (for the over the internet and just through the states intranet).

Yet sometimes she would say she knew stuff about what I was saying and I knew I was lost and would have to show her lol.

Anyways there are just some people like that.

Yeah, the tardy thing is something Im working on. Im not a morning person at all. Though Ive been better since im driving instead of using public transpotation, though today car wouldnt start so i took the bus and got caught in major traffic jam. I have to travel from north west philly into center city or west philly and traffic is always unpredictable.

But if i get in late I also stay late so i dont see what the big deal is. Its not like there's a nutrition emergency or anyone else's work will be held up by me. I getting in around 7 -7:30 am so its not like im pulling up at 9:45 or 10 and the morning is half over. Now if i was a nurse and had to set up for pt treatments it would be a big deal because i would be holding things up, but mostly my work is independant of the other staff except for the meetings whcih are in the afternoon and i am never late for. Still, it is something that i could improve on.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

Sometimes revenge is a good thing.

Well, sending a grown man home like a second grader because he's not "dressed professionally"..had it been me I would have said "look, you know the policy, tomorrow make sure you have that tie", but never would I have done something so humilating to an employee.

It ticked my guy off royally, but he is a far better person than I am and is capable of forgiveness.

His wife, on his behalf, is NOT.

There were "subterranean" things at work there. There always are.

But LOL BP, I will never forget my hubby's face when he drove back to the house that morning. I looked out the window at ten, saw him pull up and said to myself "oh-oh". It took every bit of my considerable powers of persuasion to 1) get him to go back, 2) not pursue an obvious war of attrition in the workplace. I would not allow him ot be the loser in such a silly duel.

I'm sort of his consigliere when it comes to workplace dynamics/friction matters - I've read Che Guevara and know how to win. Everything, but everything, gets talked over in the wee hours and the Queen decrees.

I was particularly ticked as I myself dress my hubby, not just because his career is tops on my agenda, but because I enjoy it - the man has never had to pick out so much as a work-related sock or a shoe lace for himself, and for his professional appearance to be called into question was personally very galling for me, ha ha.

But things have a way of working themselves out. I make sure of that, one way or another..long before he went on to a better job, he had gotten his "satisfaction", and I mine. I think the very fact that jerk was even looking for another job was a chain of events set in motion by the 'no-tie' day.

Behind every successful man is a street-fighting, plotting, vengefully protective woman, half shrink, half guerrilla warfare leader... I really would have made a dynamite "Mrs Tuna". LOL!!

How lucky you guys are...I want a "wife"! :laugh2:

 

[adbutcher]

@ Boeing we could wear shorts as long as we didn't come in contact with any one external to Boeing.

@ Carrier bluejeans and sneakers unless tending to a vendor or someone on mahogony row.

My new company is all buisness casual. No jeans, no sneakers allowed not even on a Friday.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

@ Boeing we could wear shorts as long as we didn't come in contact with any one external to Boeing.

@ Carrier bluejeans and sneakers unless tending to a vendor or someone on mahogony row.

My new company is all buisness casual. No jeans, no sneakers allowed not even on a Friday.

Poor Ad, ha ha.

Business casual is comfy. Jeans and sneakers don't belong in a professional environment - EVER!!

You should have to wear a suit, stockings, and heels in 95 degree heat and humidity - then you'd appreciate "business casual".

 

[Danny White]

We have a very loose dress code here at my company... biz casual Mon-Thurs and casual on Friday. But it always seems like there's someone who's pushing the limits, so I can sympathize with drawing a line.

It's a difficult thing to deal with as a manager, because you don't want to be a dick about it, but at the same time, if you're trying to maintain some semblance of a professional environment, you don't want to let too much slide.

That said, your director handled that situation very unprofessionally IMO, Hoov. If he had a problem, he should have addressed you about it privately and told you specifically what he thought was inappropriate.

We just had an incident in our office with a new employee who is just out of college. She showed up one day wearing a shirt that was, for all purposes, BACKLESS! Now I'm a red-blooded American boy and she did look fetching, but I know inappropriate office attire when I see it. I didn't know how to address it, though, because she's new and I didn't want to embarras her. Plus, since I'm a guy, I didn't want it to seem like I was ogling her. :

I have an office manager who's an older lady and I asked her if she had noticed anything out of the ordinary dress-wise in the office. She had. (turns out everyone in the office took notice) So I had her take the girl aside and tell her privately in a "motherly" fashion that she probably shouldn't be showing so much skin at work. I'm sure she was somewhat embarrased, but hopefully it nipped the situation in the bud and kept things from getting too out of line.

I guess my point is that a company has every right to set it's standards, but that they should be set in a clear matter, and transgressions should be handled with tact rather than by calling someone out in public just to embarrass them. If your company doesn't want people wearing jeans, then it should forbid them in it's dress code. If it did, then you'd know.

Just for kicks, the next time the director's coming into the office, you should wear a tux or something over the top like that.

 

[adbutcher]

Poor Ad, ha ha.

Business casual is comfy. Jeans and sneakers don't belong in a professional environment - EVER!!

You should have to wear a suit, stockings, and heels in 95 degree heat and humidity - then you'd appreciate "business casual".

The "good" companies understand that most engineers are a different breed of people. @ Boeing, the lights were dimmed to prevent monitor glare and we had free eats, our area looked like a modernized cave, lol. Throw in a pair of shorts in the summer then you have pure nirvana, lol.

BTW, you haven't lived until you saw the pale knobby knees of a stress engineer whose idea of physical activity is finding the remote control before Scifi’s channel Star Trek marathon. .

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Well, sending a grown man home like a second grader because he's not "dressed professionally"..had it been me I would have said "look, you know the policy, tomorrow make sure you have that tie", but never would I have done something so humilating to an employee.

It ticked my guy off royally, but he is a far better person than I am and is capable of forgiveness.

His wife, on his behalf, is NOT.

There were "subterranean" things at work there. There always are.

But LOL BP, I will never forget my hubby's face when he drove back to the house that morning. I looked out the window at ten, saw him pull up and said to myself "oh-oh". It took every bit of my considerable powers of persuasion to 1) get him to go back, 2) not pursue an obvious war of attrition in the workplace. I would not allow him ot be the loser in such a silly duel.

I'm sort of his consigliere when it comes to workplace dynamics/friction matters - I've read Che Guevara and know how to win. Everything, but everything, gets talked over in the wee hours and the Queen decrees.

I was particularly ticked as I myself dress my hubby, not just because his career is tops on my agenda, but because I enjoy it - the man has never had to pick out so much as a work-related sock or a shoe lace for himself, and for his professional appearance to be called into question was personally very galling for me, ha ha.

But things have a way of working themselves out. I make sure of that, one way or another..long before he went on to a better job, he had gotten his "satisfaction", and I mine. I think the very fact that jerk was even looking for another job was a chain of events set in motion by the 'no-tie' day.

Behind every successful man is a street-fighting, plotting, vengefully protective woman, half shrink, half guerrilla warfare leader... I really would have made a dynamite "Mrs Tuna". LOL!!

How lucky you guys are...I want a "wife"! :laugh2:

You must be a good woman to get him to go back....I seriously doubt if I would have (when I was younger) but now if that was the code then I would have stuck to it more then likely.

However I know my wife would have told me to stay home if I wanted because she has a temper on her lol.