'I asked her to pull out the company handbook and read the definition of business attire': Manager faces retaliation after insisting that employees have to wear business attire on Fridays when all other departments wear jeans

Company dress codes can be a contentious topic in the workplace. As Gen Z has entered the world of work, numerous debates have been sparked about what kind of outfits are appropriate to wear to the office (or not). The reality is that many workplaces have certain rules on the way that their employees should dress for a reason. Sometimes, it is a simple case of professionalism, and other times, it can even be a matter of health and safety.

However, it is also true that some companies and managers can try to enforce a dress code that is unnecessarily stuffy and strict. Does not wearing a dress shirt really impact somebody's ability to do their job effectively? Even relatively traditional corporate environments sometimes acknowledge this with the phenomenon of Dress Down Fridays, allowing employees to wear more casual and comfortable clothes in the workplace for one day of the week.

01

via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

_{The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.}
Advertisement
Even in cases like these, though, some supervisors are uncomfortable allowing their employees to engage in such behavior. This is something one office worker pushed back against when their manager decided that their department would be the only one in the building not to join in on the blue jeans Fridays that had been recently instituted. Their response, soon copied by coworkers, was to stretch the ‘official’ dress code to its limits at the end of the week. It worked like a charm.
02
You want us to dress in business attire when all other departments get to wear blue jeans? You got it!

via mouse_g_23
03

via mouse_g_23
04

via mouse_g_23
Advertisement
05

via mouse_g_23
06

via mouse_g_23
Advertisement
07

via mouse_g_23
08
Commenters were delighted by the textbook case of malicious compliance.

via Alarmed-Ride1719
Advertisement
09

via CleanDataDirtyMind
10

via Realistic-Animator-3
11

via Thankyouhappy
Advertisement
12

via MsTacheNoire
13

via measaqueen
14

via narcissistssck
Advertisement
15

via daheff_irl
16

via DJ_HouseShoes
17

via Punkinpry427
Advertisement
18

via Surgeplux
19

via FloppySlapper
20

via Compulawyer
Advertisement
21

via Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
22

via eLishus