Eighty-three per cent of businesses agree that flip-flops are not suitable work attire, following a recent ban on this type of footware at the White House.
These are the findings of a survey into dress codes at work, which also found that 70 per cent of UK businesses would not allow shorts, while 88 per cent forbid mini-skirts.
Larger businesses favour more formal attire with just under half (40 per cent) insisting on formal wear at work. Yet just a third of respondents offer fashion advice with a dress code, most requiring ‘smart casual’ attire.
Agnes Maisonial, research executive at Continental Research, the survey authors, said: “If you prefer more relaxed working attire, then smaller companies are the places to be, as very few companies with less than 10 employees have a dress code.”
The research also revealed that a heat wave is no exception, with three quarters of those insisting that their formal dress code would remain intact. Just a quarter would consider installing air-conditioning.
A total of 500 businesses were quizzed as part of the survey.