Equality and Human Rights Commission

Many employers impose a dress code on employees and both men and women may be unhappy about having to conform to a specific style of dress at work.

You may have a claim of direct sex discrimination if your employer's dress code treats one sex less favourably than the other.

Your rights

Many employers impose a dress code on employees and both men and women may be unhappy about having to conform to a specific style of dress at work.

You may have a claim of direct sex discrimination if your employer's dress code treats one sex less favourably than the other. Case law on dress codes has shown that it can be difficult to persuade the employment tribunal that a particular dress code treats one sex less favourably and many employees have lost their claims. It has been established that employers do not have to impose exactly the same dress code on men and women. If the dress code applies 'conventional standards of dress and appearance' then it will be seen as applying an even handed approach between men and women and your claim of sex discrimination would be unlikely to succeed.