MEMORANDUM
TO: Legal Aid of Arkansas Staff
FROM: Lee Richardson
RE: Appropriate Attire for Work and Personal Appearance (Updated October, 2007)
DATE: October 2, 2007
Our practice has been for supervisors and office managers to take an active role in setting standards and dealing with employees who are dressing inappropriately. Good judgment and common sense is the key to this informal “policy”. So long as this method results in a staff regularly attired in a way appropriate for an office setting and for the work being undertaken, the establishment of a formal dress code can be avoided. You should always dress to meet client expectations, instill client confidence, and represent Legal Aid of Arkansas in a positive manner.
Following are some general guidelines concerning office attire and personal appearance:
1. Managing attorneys and office managers should be cognizant of standards and practices within the local legal and professional community when evaluating appropriate dress. Every effort should be made to meet or exceed accepted community standards.
2. You are expected to present a clean, neat, tasteful and well groomed appearance.
3. Employees are to dress in a manner appropriate for their job. Any employee who is regularly seen by clients or visitors to the agency is to dress in a professional, if relaxed, manner. If you have to question yourself as to whether attire is acceptable, it probably is not.
4. Attorneys and paralegals representing clients outside the office are to dress in a professional manner that will avoid any harm to the clients' interest and conform to the standards in the venue, court, or location where you are appearing.
5. All clothing must be clean and in good repair.
6. When jeans are worn they should conform to #5 and are to be worn with a shirt (with collar), jacket or sweater which gives a "dressed up" impression. On casual office days T-shirts as set forth below are acceptable.
7. The following are ALWAYS inappropriate office attire during regular business hours:
Ø shorts;
Ø underwear style or screen printed T-shirts (except those with Legal Aid of Arkansas or Equal Justice/Community Partner logos);
Ø "sweat" suits or other exercise clothing;
Ø billed caps;
Ø rubber flip flops or beach sandals (sandals that qualify as dress footwear are O.K.);
Ø halter tops, tank tops, crop tops, tube tops, see-through shirts, muscle shirts, and shirts or blouses with low cut necklines or that do not cover the mid-section of the body;
Ø clothing advertising a political organization, candidate or point of view;
Ø undergarments worn so they are intentionally visible.