Summer in the city: Revise your dress codes for ‘hot’ workplaces

Employers that have policies governing appropriate dress in the workplace should review their policies annually and revise them as necessary. In Arizona (and other states with extremely hot weather), you may wish to take it a step further by reviewing your policies seasonally and modifying dress code requirements to account for extreme heat during the summer months. In all cases, it’s crucial to provide employees with a copy of your dress code at the start of their employment and any time a seasonal dress code goes into effect. But it isn’t enough just to provide a copy of the policy. You should also require all employees to acknowledge, in writing, that they have received the policy and they agree to adhere to it during their employment.

What your summer dress code should say

While the dress code policy typically is contained in an employee handbook, it also may be a free-standing policy. What’s more important than where the dress code resides is what it contains. An effective summer dress code should set forth: