Welcome to spring and the changing wardrobe season. Here’s a guide for casual Fridays.
Casual Fridays
Week 1 - Memo No. 1
- Effective this week, the company is adopting Fridays as Casual Day. Employees are free to dress in the casual attire of their choice.
Week 3 - Memo No. 2
- Capris, cropped jeans, and shorts are not appropriate attire for Casual Day. Neither are flip flops.
Week 6 - Memo No. 3
- Casual Day refers to dress only, not attitude. When planning Friday’s wardrobe, remember image is a key to our success.
Week 8 - Memo No. 4
- A seminar on how to dress for Casual Day will be held at 4 p.m. Friday in the cafeteria. A demonstration will follow. Attendance is mandatory.
Week 9 - Memo No. 5
- As an outgrowth of Friday’s seminar, a 14-member Casual Day Task Force has been appointed to prepare guidelines for proper casual-day dress.
Week 14 - Memo No. 6
- The Casual Day Task Force has now completed a 30-page manual entitled “Relaxing Dress Without Relaxing Company Standards.” A copy has been distributed to every employee. Please review the chapter “You Are What You Wear” and consult the “home casual” versus “business casual” checklist before leaving for work each Friday. If you have doubts about the appropriateness of an item of clothing, contact your CDTF representative before 7 a.m. on Friday.
Week 18 - Memo No. 7
- Our Employee Assistant Plan (EAP) has now been expanded to provide counseling for employees who may be having difficulty adjusting to Casual Day.
Week 20 - Memo No. 8
- Due to budget cuts in the HR Department we are no longer able to effectively support or manage Casual Day. Casual Day will be discontinued, effective immediately.
That is so danged funny…and so danged true. LOL.
my fave is the Employee Assistant Plan (EAP).
The sad thing is that, even with those restrictions, I’m envious. (do I need to call EAP about that?) The dress code in a hospital environment is a wee bit strict. We don’t have casual Fridays! Between the JCAHO compliance and the whole “don’t alarm the patients” thing, there’s a lengthly list of unacceptable attire even for non-medical staff.
I had an informational interview with the senior generalist at my husband’s employer. She was wearing shorts and flip flops, plus a tank top and a sparkly nose stud. Somehow none of her sartorial choices interfered with her job performance. Must have been a fluke.
I’d happily volunteer for the CDTF if it means endless meetings. Getting paid to daydream and eat doughnuts and think of ways to annoy my coworkers… bliss.
@ Frank, you make me blush
@ Col, I love the EAP for so many (personal) reasons
@ Perrick, you need to find a job in big pharma because we love endless meetings and donuts. The donuts are mandatory!
As you can see, I’ve linked to this.
We were always told, by journalists in the UK, that dress-down failed over here because British men have no sartorial flair. Apparently it was a success everywhere else because everyone else in the world dresses better than we do.
Thank you for debunking that myth.
hehe,
) But I am impressed to find so many dealing with my “heartblood” [HR].
So much fun - I have started my own HR blog in danish (sorry
I really like your style and approach. I don’t think it would ever happen in Denmark; HR are very very “unrelaxed” when it comes to have the - in my opinion - ironic distance to what we are doing.
Keep up the very very good work,
I will link to you shortly…
Kindest,
stoney