Man Gets Shirty Over Dress Code

2:43pm UK, Monday February 24, 2003

A man who has been told he must wear a shirt and tie at work is a victim of sexual discrimination, an employment tribunal has heard.

Matthew Thompson

A dress code brought in by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stipulated that men working in Jobcentre Plus offices across the country had to wear a collar and tie to work.

But the DWP set no similar stipulation for women.

Matthew Thompson, an administrative assistant at Jobcentre Plus in Stockport, Greater Manchester, has taken a test case against the DWP complaining of sexual discrimination.

'Football tops'

Women in his office were allowed to wear T-shirts and on one occasion, one of his female colleagues even wore a football shirt without facing disciplinary action, Mr Thompson told a tribunal.

"It may not be the convention for women to wear a collar and tie but the point I am making is that a similar standard of business dress is not applied to women as it is to myself," he said.

"Women are allowed to wear T-shirts, they have logos on the T-shirts, and on at least one occasion they have worn football tops," he added.

Earlier, National officer David Burke said Jobcentre Plus workers faced fines of up to 10% of their salary as well as dismissal for ignoring the dress code.

Improved services

"The code is Draconian and unreasonable," he said.

"Many workers don't even come into contact with the public yet they are being threatened with the sack just for refusing to wear a tie."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said the dress code was part of a drive to provide improved services to the public.

"It puts us on a level with banks and building societies," she added.