Dresses at work?

[Klmar]

Today I was told by my TL that I needed to either buy a new outfit to wear or go home and change and come back because I was wearing a red dress. Rather than a top with pants. I told her there is nothing in the dress code that forbids wearing a dress, and that my previous two stores allowed the wearing of dresses as long as they were mostly red and complied with all other dress codes (no thin straps, not revealing etc).
My TL then told me that it was inappropriate for me to wear a dress considering the work I’m doing. I work in softlines, where we are told to dress fashionably. It went to my knees, I wore bike shorts underneath on the off chance that I’d have to go up a ladder even though we don’t back stock anything right now during Covid because we have so little product. I asked to speak to someone higher and they called our HR who yelled at me saying that “AT THIS STORE, we don’t wear dresses, it’s our policy” they have nothing posted and this isn’t in the corporate policy so why should it be an issue.
side note, the dress was 100% red, had tshirt sleeves, went to my knee, was below finger tips of my hands fell directly to my sides, and was a target owned brand of clothing. I see no reason this should be considered unprofessional or not allowed. How can we allow skirts that go to the knee and not a dress? How is one more or less appropriate???
Does anyone else’s stores have issues with this or allow the wear of dresses?

 

[Rarejem]

My store does not.

 

[happygoth]

I've never seen anyone wearing a dress at my store, but we are pretty lax with dress code so I can"t imagine it would be a problem, but who knows. They definitely haven't told the Style team to dress fashionably, lol.

 

[Guessed Service]

I've seen 2 or 3 coworkers wear khaki dresses/skirts with a red top.

 

[Tarshitsucks]

Well hey if your comfy just wear it. Also go higher up the chain tell them what's going on and ask if you can wear the dress. They shouldn't force you to wear anything but red khaki and jeans dress code with closed toe shoes. I saw a pharmacy person wear a skirt all the time before we became tied to cvs. I have seen a person in skirts and dress.

 

[Breathe]

How do you carry around the walkie talkie & my device throughout your shift?

 

[Logo]

Dress does allow for skirts.

 

[Planosss]

Dress code is khakis/jeans bottoms and red tops. You can wear a jeans/khaki skirt with a red top. I hope that makes it clear.

 

[NKG]

Just talk to HR. We have an open door policy so your TL can't stop you. Some stores are more relaxed on the dress code than others.

 

[Fluttervale]

You can wear a skirt but a dress would need to have an acceptable pair of pants or skirt on the bottom.

 

[Klmar]

For everyone who is quoting denim or khaki at me, I urge you to go read your books. First of all, it says any colored pant or skirt as long as it’s a solid color. And in parenthesis it says preferably denim or khaki. That’s a preference not a requirement.

 

[Klmar]

You can wear a skirt but a dress would need to have an acceptable pair of pants or skirt on the bottom.

A dress is a skirt on the bottom. It’s just attached to the top. And I was wearing bike shorts underneath on the chance I’d have to climb.
but you can’t tell me I have to wear shorts underneath a dress and not under a skirt. Which is doesn’t say in the dress code policy that one must wear shorts under a skirt. So you can’t enforce it for a dress, that’s merely personal choice.

 

[happygoth]

For everyone who is quoting denim or khaki at me, I urge you to go read your books. First of all, it says any colored pant or skirt as long as it’s a solid color. And in parenthesis it says preferably denim or khaki. That’s a preference not a requirement.

But it's up to the discretion of the SD. At my store, it's denim or khaki.

 

[happygoth]

A dress is a skirt on the bottom. It’s just attached to the top. And I was wearing bike shorts underneath on the chance I’d have to climb.
but you can’t tell me I have to wear shorts underneath a dress and not under a skirt. Which is doesn’t say in the dress code policy that one must wear shorts under a skirt. So you can’t enforce it for a dress, that’s merely personal choice.

Discretion of your SD, bottom line.

 

[Anelmi]

I think the point is: red AND khaki/denim not just RED. The uniform has 2 colors not just one solid.

 

[Klmar]

No where does it say that it’s up to the discretion of each store. In legal terms, since they neglected to address the specification on a dress, you can wear one because it’s not specifically determined to be something you cannot wear.
again none of this is up to the SD it’s up to corporate, it’s their policy. It’s not a some can and some can’t unless there is a state law preventing it.
so difference in policy onlyreally applies to hitting compliance in different states.
and again the dress code policy states red top. - the only part required to be red. In addition to ANY SOLID COLOR PANT OR SKIRT. So if my skirt is also red, I’m okay. Just as long as it’s not attached to my shirt??? Dumb.

 

[Klmar]

Discretion of your SD, bottom line.

I disagree, and they also wouldn’t let me speak to my SD anyway, which is why I’m now requesting a meeting between him and our HR and probably going to request the TL who told me that it was wildly inappropriate for me to wear it.
I spent 6 years active duty, and serve in the reserves if there is one thing I read it’s about my regulations, even in a civilian job. I like to know what I can and can’t do. And LEGALLY I’ve broken no rules, and LEGALLY until the book is rewritten to include dresses as a no go they cannot tell me I can’t as long as the colors follow the guidelines which they did. And LEGALLY they cannot say it’s up to the discretion of each store manager unless it’s in writing. The law is funny but loopholes are loopholes.
sorry if it seems like I’m getting aggressive but I’m pretty mad about it (law student here) and I’m more mad because I don’t own skirts, but our softlines team seem to be the only ones on cart duty since our store doesn’t hire a cart attendant. It’s 100° outside, I shouldn’t be required to only wear pants, or be forced to buy things to match a policy preference not rule.

 

[Klmar]

How do you carry around the walkie talkie & my device throughout your shift?

To your question, it may sound strange but some dresses actually have pockets.
additionally there are devices that have straps on the back to be worn around the wrist, and lastly I’m usually at the fitting room or have a 2/3 tier with me because I’m putting out clothes/zoning my area which gets pretty messy. So there’s always somewhere to put devices if need be. And I don’t recall that I “need” to wear it on a back pocket so I don’t think it being in my dress pocket, or my cart should be an issue as long as it’s on me and I'm easily able to access them.

 

[happygoth]

Damn I guess you really like dresses.

 

[Anelmi]

Are you new? Because if so, then you will learn that ASANTs (all stores are not the same) and the SD most definitely can decide what he/she wants for store culture. For example: no plaid at my store. It doesn't matter if it is 98% red or shades of red, you are strongly advised not to wear plaid and will be given a Target bullseye t-shirt to wear instead. You can make it a big deal or you can put on the damn shirt and do your job.

Also a dress by definition is NOT a skirt. A skirt is detached from the shirt so no gymnastics about the definition of "dress" on your part can change that. However, If you want to make a mountain out of a molehill, go for it.

 

[Tessa120]

For fucking sake, are you at Target to work or to argue?

You want to wear a dress, meet dress code. Khaki color dress with something red on top like an open sweater.

What you are doing is the equivalent of red pants at work. And your arguments are "yeah, I know it's like red pants but I'm wanting to make waves. I'm wanting to show off, I'm not wanting to meet dress codes."

 

[seasonaldude]

In legal terms, since they neglected to address the specification on a dress, you can wear one because it’s not specifically determined to be something you cannot wear.

That's not how it works. Expressio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius That's a legal phrase. It means the inclusion of one thing is the exclusion of the other. So, if you have a legal list of things that you can do, it means you cannot do anything that isn't listed. It's how courts interpret statutes.

(Note, this does not apply in criminal law, but we are not talking criminal law here.)

 

[happygoth]

Are you new? Because if so, then you will learn that ASANTs (all stores are not the same) and the SD most definitely can decide what he/she wants for store culture. For example: no plaid at my store. It doesn't matter if it is 98% red or shades of red, you are strongly advised not to wear plaid and will be given a Target bullseye t-shirt to wear instead. You can make it a big deal or you can put on the damn shirt and do your job.

Also a dress by definition is NOT a skirt. A skirt is detached from the shirt so no gymnastics about the definition of "dress" on your part can change that. However, If you want to make a mountain out of a molehill, go for it.

Perfect example of ASANTS, as plaid is fine at my store.

 

[happygoth]

For fucking sake, are you at Target to work or to argue?

You want to wear a dress, meet dress code. Khaki color dress with something red on top like an open sweater.

What you are doing is the equivalent of red pants at work. And your arguments are "yeah, I know it's like red pants but I'm wanting to make waves. I'm wanting to show off, I'm not wanting to meet dress codes."

To be fair, it sounds like no dresses at all are allowed at OP's store, no matter the color.

 

[Tessa120]

OP said skirts were fine. It'd be very unusual for the cut to be alike but treated differently. Because two tone dresses in the right color scheme are hard to find I'm thinking a strong possibility is they say no dresses because of color, not because of a joining at the waist. Also thinking it was communicated in a way that didn't mean how it was heard, especially if there were frustrations due to the preceding color disagreement. Three sides to every story after all.