Walmart changes dress code, employees have to pay

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-a-dress-code-becomes-a-lightning-rod-add-walmart/

ByAimee Picchi September 10, 2014

When does a dress code become a major headache? When it involves Walmart (WMT) and most of its retail workforce.

Walmart has introduced what it's calling a new dress code for its employees, a "new look" that includes rather sedate choices, such as twill pants and knit polos. While the sartorial variety isn't raising questions, the issue of cost -- as in, who bears the responsibility for outfitting employees in the new clothes -- is bringing up a host of problematic issues.

Some workers say they can't afford to shell out for new threads, thanks to their meager Walmart hourly wages. One worker, Richard Reynoso, wrote in a letter to the company's human resources manager that he's paid about $800 to $900 a month as an overnight stocker, and that he estimates the cost of three uniforms would set him back about $50.

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For Walmart, the decision to call the new requirement a "dress code" is also coming under fire. That's because there's a major difference in how the Department of Labor classifies dress codes versus uniforms, writes Erik Sherman at Forbes.com.

If Walmart had opted to call the new standards a "uniform," the requirement would have been considered a business expense of the employer. But even if the employer requires its workers to shell out for the uniform, those workers can't see their pay drop below the federal minimum wage because of that expense.

A dress code, however, comes with no legal obligation for the employer to pay for the new threads.

That means that Walmart's policy change appears to be squarely placing the additional costs on the shoulders of its workforce. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, employs 1.3 million people in the U.S.

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Interestingly, Walmart isn't requiring that workers buy from its own stores, although it is marking dress-code appropriate merchandise with a "spark" on the tag, and provided workers with a link to buy clothing from Walmart.com.

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