By Annie Hayes, HRZone Editor

The death of dress ‘down’ Friday is a well-spun rumour if latest findings which suggest that 63% of employers permit a relaxed dress code at least once a month are anything to by; Editor’s Comment examines the trends and wonders how ‘dress’ impacts on productivity and innovation in the workplace.

It is unlikely that the business suit will become extinct any time soon, you only have to walk through the City to see that it is alive and well and available in differing degrees of black.

Indeed the suit is a 300 year old tradition which dates back to the birth of the markets but is its history justification enough for employers to stick with it?

Certainly the emergence of dress ‘down’ Friday is creeping its way up the popularity charts giving us all food for thought and surely the suit can only hold its place as the favoured dress code of the office if traditional ways of working continue.

According to a survey by employment law specialists, Peninsula, 63% of employers condone a monthly casual dress day where workers are allowed to don their chosen attire in place of the business suit.

The figure compares with just 6% in 1999.

Of course in Silicon valley and the heady world of hip new media, dress down Friday isn’t really restricted to one day of the week. For many casual dress is the accepted daily uniform, a finding supported by Peninsula who report that a third of firms now allow their staff to dress how they want every day, a figure up from 24% recorded in 2003.

Peter Done, Peninsula’s managing director said of the research:

“What the survey showed is that employers are more flexible by allowing their employees to dress down on casual Friday. It provides motivation at the same time to without doing any harm to the business. It is quite right for those employers who do face customers to obviously not observe a casual Friday however on the whole it is good to see that employers are a lot more flexible than any other time.

“Over the last five years we have seen casual Friday increase substantially from it just being a small percentage of employers (6% out of a survey of 500 employers) who followed the trend back in 1999 and over the years it has grown significantly.”

Dress-codes are very much a building block of organisational culture and often a signal of the ‘way we do things around here’. Breaking the mould and trying to establish a different type of culture or way of thinking can often be assisted by adopting a day where casual dress is accepted.

A dress-down Friday can also be synonymous with a day where innovation and creative thinking are encouraged. How much easier would it be to approach the boss if the stiffness of uniform were replaced with a commonality of casual dress breaking down the barriers of hierarchy?

If employers use it to their advantage then it can be beneficial for stimulating shared thought also while improving communication between workers and building better work/life balance initiatives.

Dressing down gives workers the choice to co-ordinate their clothes to match their lifestyles; longer working hours can often mean workers go straight from work to dinner or the bar for instance and having a more relaxed dress code can help them manage their lives more appropriately.

Many firms, however, fear that a dress-down Friday will lower work standards, productivity and encourage clothing that is inappropriate for client-facing or senior management roles; after all it is true that is very hard to power-dress to impress in a pair of jeans.

One way of managing the balance for employers is to set the rules in a formal dress-code policy. Stating what is ‘not’ acceptable can save a whole heap of trouble for bosses in the future.

Into this mix is the importance of observing and respecting religious dress codes. Muslim women for example are required to cover their bodies as a sign of modesty, Sikhs wear a turban, Jews wear a skull cap out of respect for God while Rastafarians wear their hair in dreadlocks which represent the Lion of Judah.

As of December last year the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force making it unlawful to discriminate against workers because of religion or similar belief. Where a dress code is required, employers must ensure that it does not conflict with the dress requirements of some religions, unless it can be justified on the grounds of health and safety. Bosses must also ensure that dress codes are equivalent for men and women.

HRZone member Quentin Colborn offered the pros and cons:

“Pros: dress down days can sometimes be linked to charity events (e.g. Children in Need) – these can be good for providing a common focus and sense of purpose as well as developing a much more relaxed work environment and a more informal style to working relationships such as less use of formal titles (Mr & Mrs etc)- it can also put the ‘fun’ back into work.

“Cons: it can give rise to difficulties where customers are used to a corporate approach such as in retail and it can cause problems where it is difficult to set clear boundaries for what standard of dress is acceptable – this one always seems to end up with HR! I have even been involved in a fashion parade as to what is acceptable – watching not participating!”

Of course, dress ‘down’ Fridays can be as unwelcome to employees as to employers. Many dread the thought of giving up their trusted suit or uniform in place of ‘choice’ – for those then whose heart chills at the thought of stepping into Friday casuals, Anna Kồnig, writing for the Times gives her top tips to ensure your style is known more for being haute couture than bargain basement:

• Dressing down does not equate to wearing what you like. Rocking up at work in a tired old fleece and your weekend trainers will not impress your boss
• Mind the gap. Chinos and polo shirts may have become the staple dress down garments, but not everyone wants to look like their dad. Don’t be tempted to buy clothes that you don’t like. They will end up sitting in your wardrobe, untouched.
• Women are not obliged to wear beige, camel or any other neutral colour – they simply don’t suit everybody. Experiment with new colours – if it doesn’t quite work, so what?
• Don’t get caught up in competitive dressing. Some people will always have a brighter shirt or a shorter skirt. They will not win any prizes.
• Do look on it is an opportunity to show a different side of yourself. This could really shake up your colleagues’ perceptions of you.
• Don’t overdo it. You’ve got the whole of Friday to get through. Save the va-va-voom for the evening.

All of this, however, is only applicable for as long as the concept of the ‘office’ exists.

According to researchers the Future Laboratory tomorrow’s workers will take advantage of advances in technology increasing the move towards remote and home working thus eroding the traditional concept of the bricks and mortar office. If these predictions are correct, the days really are numbered for the ‘suit’.

HRZone invites you to share your thoughts on dress ‘down’ Fridays and dress codes in general. Post your views in the comments box below.