Archived How strict is your store/HR on dress code?

[redcharmander10]

I wore dark blue jeans to work today. Our HRTM saw them and reacted as if was dressed to work the corner (even though this is at least the second time I have worn them in her presence) and told me that I might have to be sent home. Fortunately the LOD and my TL have sense and let me stay.

This is not the first time our HR TM has pointed out my "dress code violations;" the first time being when I wore plaid (which quite a few TMs at my store do). No LOD has ever said anything to me regarding any different dress choices I make - so I always assume they are a non-issue at my store. I think I have proven myself to be a hard worker regardless; are all stores, leadership, and HR different in how they deal? And is this even a big deal anyway? To me it seems like a non-issue as long as I can easily be identified as a Target TM.

 

[commiecorvus]

If you live in Washington or California than you're cool.
Both states don't count red and khaki as in the standard color range so Target can only 'strongly suggest' you dress to code.

However if you live in any other state they can pretty much tell you what to wear within reason.
Red shirt, plain without any other large logo on it.
Khaki - Tan through brown usually fly.
I've seen all kinds of variations on these, our store was in the middle.
Not sloppy but not super strict either.

 

[Producer]

I work in one of the states commie listed, and my store is fairly loose on its dress policy. That said, I have yet to hear of a store (my store included) that allows jeans. I've seen people wear black jeans a few times and get away with it, but the policy does clearly state that you must wear solid colored pants (preferably khaki) and no jeans.

 

[Retail Girl]

We had a new guy (like first or second day training) show up in gray pants. They told him that if he hadn't been back room, they would have sent him home and next time he wore those he would be sent home.

 

[artforoxygen]

The store I'm in now is quite relaxed on shirts, but your pants better be some shade of khaki-like. My former store had a few new TMs show up in not khakis and not nice dress pants and we all just stared their whole shift.

This is something I cannot comprehend - how hard is it to follow a dress code that says red shirt and solid pants, preferably khaki oh and some close toed shoes? Even if you're new, there's thrift stores near a lot of people, go snag some khakis. How hard is it to follow a dress code that's 3 requirements? I worked for Six Flags and had like 3 pages of dress code rules to go through.

 

[buliSBI]

Flow team wearing jeans was only allowed for overnight flow who were scheduled to be out before operating hours.

I worked one shift with khakis that were close to a green shade. I was told I was ok for the night but never to wear them again.

I worked one store where they really pushed that team members should not be wearing T-shirts unless you are working backroom, Food Ave, or Carts. Everything had to be polo or button up. TLs and ETLs always had to wear button ups.

 

[Snookie]

My store is pretty relaxed on shirts; no logos but as long as you're wearing a red sweater or vest, your shirt can be any color. Even our ETL's wear colored shirts with a red sweater.

Pants are still khaki-colored, although I wore a pair of black pants when I did a Food Ave shift awhile back and while I got a few comments, I reminded them that solid color was allowed and that was the end of that. If I were braver/had decent solid color pants, I'd wear them for PA shifts. As is my nicest pants are khaki anyway, but I do know that the next time I'm going to work and I KNOW I'll be doing a lot of scrubbing (i.e. milk shelves or backroom cleaning) I sure ain't ruining my kahkis for that.

Anyone who works overnight can wear jeans, and flow can wear shorts before the store opens. The other day we had an O/N team that came in a few hours before the store closed, and they ALL started work in jeans. I was a bit surprised but nobody said anything; I guess they figured it was not worth pressing the point for just two hours of the store being open.

 

[anathema]

That's kind of an odd line to skirt. Just wear khaki?

 

[oath2order]

If you live in Washington or California than you're cool.
Both states don't count red and khaki as in the standard color range so Target can only 'strongly suggest' you dress to code.

Wow, for WA and CA stores there probably is something behind the "do you work here?" thing then XD

At my store, if you work overnight, you don't have to wear khaki. You're also not forced to change when the store opens.

Our store is also really strict that if you have a sweater on, it has to be red (but the shirt under it can be whatever color as long as you leave the sweater on).

Yeah, the primary color of sweaters at my store has to be red. I assume you can wear anything undernearth

 

[sher]

They're not strict at all at my store. Some seasonal people have been wearing logos, and white jackets on top of their red tops. Those of us who wear a jacket usually wear a red one on top and do black or white underneath with no problems.

Early morning people seemingly only have to wear a red top, but most of them wear khaki.

 

[commiecorvus]

Wow, for WA and CA stores there probably is something behind the "do you work here?" thing then XD

I'm told the stores will provide a red vest for that very reason.

 

[redeye58]

Our store is pretty tight on the red & khaki thing.
Too bad they're not as strict in matters of taste.
Some of these fashion statements look like they should run screaming into the closet.

 

[redcharmander10]

I work in one of the states commie listed, and my store is fairly loose on its dress policy. That said, I have yet to hear of a store (my store included) that allows jeans. I've seen people wear black jeans a few times and get away with it, but the policy does clearly state that you must wear solid colored pants (preferably khaki) and no jeans.

OP here; I work in one of those states as well. I have seen my fellow TMs (including ones I work with out on the floor/front end) wear non-khaki pants (one of our cashiers avoids it whenever possible), including jeans, plaid shirts, striped shirts, etc. Apparently it is very strongly suggested based on HR's reaction, and because our SFT also made comments to me...

 

[Kaz]

We follow the team colors pretty well. Shorts are only allowed for Brand attendants during the summer months.

Jeans are definitely a no no. We have always been told dress for the position you want to be in.

 

[doxie71]

I worked one store where they really pushed that team members should not be wearing T-shirts unless you are working backroom, Food Ave, or Carts. Everything had to be polo or button up. TLs and ETLs always had to wear button ups.

Damn that would suck. Sorry but for all my PA shifts, I wear my Target hoodie. It's freezing over there and I like to be comfortable.

As far as wearing different colored shirts, I often wear something other than red under my hoodie, and there is a HL TL that always wears a different colored shirt under his red whatever for that day. It's an easy way to go incognito on your breaks. Take off red layer, bam no red and khaki to grab attention while grabbing a bite to eat.

 

[Retail Girl]

We follow the team colors pretty well. Shorts are only allowed for Brand attendants during the summer months.

Jeans are definitely a no no. We have always been told dress for the position you want to be in.

If I dress for the position I want to be in, there would be dress clothes involved and no red and khaki. That would not go over well.

 

[ZombiePanties31]

At my store, the dress code is not too bad. Any kind of khakis is OK, even really tight ones or ones with cargo pockets, but you have to have a red shirt. It can be bright red or dark red, but not pink, orange, purple or brown. If you layer, the layer underneath has to be red, black, or white, and the top layer always must be red. We must wear closed toe shoes, of course, but they can be any crazy color of tennis shoes. No heels, of course. We are allowed to wear t shirts, as long as they are not torn or stained. If our shirt has a stain on it or something, HR will make us change.

We are allowed to wear things like hair accessories/scarves and jewelry, although I don't wear any rings while I work because I am afraid it will catch on something.

I've seen a couple of workers break the dress code: like one girl wore a turquoise shirt on underneath her red cardigan, and one stock guy actually had black pants (I mistook him for a guest!). I don't know if they got in trouble or not, but I'm going to stay under the radar and dress conservatively

 

[Jasette]

I think our store's rules are pretty reasonable - we basically just have to wear a khaki color-range bottom and a visibly red color-range top. So you could wear a red top and a small cropped black or gray cardigan over it if the red was still the main color on your top half. Most people do red outerwear and something nondescript underneath, or just a plain red top. The other day I wore a red sweater and a grey Hannah Hart shirt (noticeably) underneath and I got nothing but compliments and happy guests, haha.

Girls don't have to wear pants. I wear khaki skirts with various color leggings (dark blue, black, red, grey) all the time. Skirts actually allow me more freedom of movement than pants do since I don't have to constantly adjust them. Spot actually had these awesome khaki skirts with big pockets on them on clearance for like $8 so I got about five of them. They're absolutely perfect for work and they're quite flattering, too. Plus, pants never fit me very well since I have kind of atypical legs/hips/waist measurements so I often think my skirts look more professional (and I'm complimented by TMs and TLs on them often).

Skirts do have to be knee-length or longer, of course. No problem there.

As long as our bottom is solid khaki-brown, tan, or plain khaki we're pretty much good. Unfortunately (I guess?) only overnight guys are allowed to wear shorts. I don't think the dudes mind it that much, though. Especially since it's been so cold lately.

As far as shoes go, of course they should be close-toed. I always recommend to all of my fellow front end TMs that they should invest in some (perhaps more spendy) comfortable shoes. I have two pairs of Dansko's, one's a black mary-jane and the other is a red suede tennis shoe which I really love to wear since it's pretty brand, hahaha. And they really help when I have 8+hr shifts over a series of several days. When I first started working I literally couldn't get to sleep at the end of the night because my feet and legs hurt so much.

tl;dr:
Red/dark red top (must have sleeves of some kind)
Khaki/Tan/Light Brown bottom (skirts - knee length or longer - or pants)
Close toed shoes

I have some especially brand shirts/work blazers and I even have a couple of pairs of Spot socks which I wear whenever there's a visit or I'm feeling like impressing people, hahaha. But most days whatever I choose to wear, the comments I get are that it's a clever, professional, still-brand way to wear the classic red/khaki.

 

[eleuthreophile]

My store is pretty laid back. Shirts have to be red (if you have two shirts on, only the top has to be red) and have to have sleeves, and bottoms have to be a solid color but obviously khaki is strongly preferred. Bottoms can be pants, skirts, ankle pants, or capris. Only CAs are allowed to wear shorts. Shoes have to be closed-toed, but really that's it. We've had TMs wear knee-high boot frequently and HR has never been bothered by that. I wear skirts every day and I tend to wear black, navy, or grey tights, but I kind of want to get red and white striped ones for the holidays. No one ever cars about the color of belts/shoes/accessories/etc. As long as you're noticeably in red and khaki, they don't care. The only exception is the rare times we have overnights. You're allowed to wear jeans but must otherwise follow the dress code.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

Ok I'm not anally preaching policy and procedure, but the dress code or lack thereof, is driving me crazy!

Our etl-hr is always showing her cleavage in every outfit she wears. People are wearing those red and pink fleece jackets daily, and people are getting away with wearing HATS during work. SALESFLOOR people with baseball caps and/or fashionable hats.

I don't get why no one in leadership gives a damn!?!?!?

 

[Rarejem]

The team member handbook states that red shirts must be worn, khaki is the "recommended" color for pants. Denim and spandex are not allowed. Since most pants now have some degree of spandex in them that is a bit difficult to monitor. I will admit that I have a pair of khaki denim pants and I do wear them to work. If I got called out on it I would suck it up and change, but nobody has said anything in more than 10 years. I guess nobody is staring at my butt and I'm ok with that. Everyone from our DTL to flow tm's will wear skirts and most women wear capris in the warm weather. Some of the men complained and were told that they could wear skirts and capris if they wanted to. We had one guy wear a khaki kilt and several who cut pants to capri length. They quit wearing them when nobody reacted. We have been told that capris must be mid-calf and skirts must be knee length or longer.

 

[oath2order]

Ok I'm not anally preaching policy and procedure, but the dress code or lack thereof, is driving me crazy!

Our etl-hr is always showing her cleavage in every outfit she wears. People are wearing those red and pink fleece jackets daily, and people are getting away with wearing HATS during work. SALESFLOOR people with baseball caps and/or fashionable hats.

I don't get why no one in leadership gives a damn!?!?!?

The dress code says nothing about hats though.

 

[paidtosmile]

Our leadership isn't too strict on the dress code. We have one hardlines TL who enforces it but the Execs don't as long as you look brand.

When I covered for my GSTL during her LOA last fourth quarter, I got away with greyish khakis and darker red shirts. My GE told me she prefers we that we dress professionally. Which is kind of a joke considering how much we make...

 

[redeye58]

Whenever there's any red or khaki that goes on clearance, it's gone pretty quick. I also was checking out thrift stores nearby & they were bereft of red & khaki (& navy shirts for that matter).

 

[JustJoe]

In my store (one of those west coast states) there doesn't seem to be an issue with what red and khaki. There is, however, an issue with TMs who forget what they are wearing if they layer clothes. If you're wearing red on top and non-red under, you have to keep the red one on even if you get hot. (or you can get one of the vests)