Why Are Dress Codes Important

Dress codes are a massively controversial idea that have recently gotten an enormous amount of attention. The idea that a school, or in this case a business, can tell someone what they can and cannot wear seems inappropriate. However, once one realizes the actual use of dress codes and the benefits of enforcing them they can start to appreciate these sometimes-dreaded set of rules. They serve a purpose, of course, naturally without a purpose they would not be implemented, some ways that dress codes benefit employees are by providing a baseline for what to wear every day. This can take out much confusion to first time employees. Another way they can help is by making sure that employees do not put themselves or others in danger by wearing clothes
that could increase risk of injury. Within the workplace dress codes are necessary and should be appreciated for increasing productivity and keeping employees safe.

They are everywhere; dress codes are a massive part of society and something that is an element of every part of life. For as long as I can remember, there have always been rules about what people can and cannot wear. From basic societal, and in some cases executive, rules like not going out into public in one's underwear, to more ranging rules like in schools; dress codes are everywhere. In experiencing all these dress codes in their fullest compacity, I often thought that they were a massive contest of rights; however, after getting experience in a professional environment I have come to appreciate the value of the dress code.

Within my first couple of months in the professional world I have come to realize that dress codes provide many benefits, with one main one being that they increase productivity.
In the corporate world, time is money, and anyone who has ever worked in a professional environment probably realized that many employees do not make the most of their time. Of course, there are outliers and overachievers, who make it their focus to be successful, but in general many employees lack a good work ethic. This may seem irrelevant; however, where dress codes come in is that they minimize distractions for employees, who already waste a lot of time, to waste even more time. Imagine how much of a disaster, from a productivity point of view, it would be for someone to walk into the office with an offensive picture on their shirt. That person and their outfit would be the "talk of the town" around the office and would virtually destroy that day's production possibility. In this instance, dress codes are necessary because they prevent from having even more distractions within the
office.

Another, and probably the most important, reason for dress codes in the workplace is safety.
Almost any business will proclaim that their number one focus is safety. This mainly applies to manual labor; however, can be applied to almost any profession. People's safety might be the one thing that some businesses value over money, possibly because in the long run it saves them money, but that is irrelevant. If it was not monitored, people would often forget or even not care and wear clothes that puts themselves or other employees in danger. For example, for most people it is common knowledge that one should not wear jewelry, baggy clothes, or long hair around machines; however, there are most definitely people who do not and therefore if not monitored could put themselves at risk of an injury. Workplace safety is a massive part of the workplace and one of the most important ways of keeping people safe is by implementing, and enforcing, a dress
code.

One of the biggest arguments against dress codes is that it prevents people from being able to use their freedom of expression. Even though there are many arguments on what is allowed within freedom of expression, itself, the two reasons I have given go beyond expression. In its most basic form, a business is an organization that provides a service or good, at a price that can bring in the most money. A business does not exist for people to gather and share their ideas, unless, of course, that is the way the business is making money. If there are distractions that prevent the business from making the most money in the shortest amount of time, then they need to be handled. One way to reduce distractions is by implementing a dress code. The number one right that every single human is entitled to is the right to live, it basically has authority over every other right. It is irrational to believe that being able to wear one's favorite t-shirt is more important than someone's availability to safely live their life.

There was once a time in my life when I believed that dress codes should be completely banned, and people allowed to wear whatever they wanted. However, after gaining experience in a professional workplace I realize that dress codes serve many extremely important purposes that trump the right to expression. Being able to have a business function at it’s highest capacity, all the while keeping its employees safe, is the what the purpose of a business is supposed to be. This gives them the right and motivates them to have a clear and defined dress code.