Organizational Dress Code for Business Establishments
Having a respectable and appropriate business setting is important for any professional workplace, and having your customers as well as your employees dress and behave properly affects that operation. Establishing a certain dress formality forms a type of standard for that company, and this has brings about pros and cons in a market point of view. Businesses can predict their patrons and sell what they know is relevant, but this can also drive a customer that is not the ‘norm’ away from a business. Especially as a company grows, it seems necessary to establish a certain culture that the business would like to project. Many companies want the dress code to play a role in establishing that culture they have or want to have, all while staying complaint.
As it makes sense for a company to establish a dress code for their employees, there has been a controversy over whether an organization is in position to recommend that decision for their customers. In 2017, United Airlines barred two young ladies from their flight who were wearing leggings, which raised the question over whether companies should have the right to tell their customers what they are allowed to wear (Stack, L.). United Airlines received a lot of criticism from this situation and was heavily slandered on social media. Their decision to refuse entry of their flight has showed how the culture of flying as well as dress has changed immensely. Decades ago, flying used to be seen as glamorous and usually expensive, done by business professionals and for special occasions.
It was normal for people to dress up for air travel. In the 1950s and 60s, most people flew for business and when they flew they would dress like they never left that office attire atmosphere (Silva, D.). There was a status for flying, and just like the dress code in the workplace, it was intended to represent that business while going on these trips. During that time, flying was not a commodity for all Americans. Flying is much more common today, and many people enjoy this service as a normality. The two girls were claimed to be ‘pass travelers’ who travel with United Airlines, which allows the employees, and their dependents to travel freely or on standby (Silva, D.). United Airlines holds a strict dress code policy for these types of travelers, to represent their company.
They feel as their standby travelers should be able to come comfortable, but appropriate and in good taste for their environment. Many people called out United Airlines, arguing that the dress code policy is sexists, old-fashioned, and simply outdated (Stack, L.). The whole incident was captured on Twitter with harsh criticism from famous people to their own competitors. From many tweets, United Airlines went on to say that they do not condone casual attire, but as long as it is neat. Competitor, Delta Airlines, trolled United with their own tweet saying how they support comfort, and they allow leggings on their flights (Silva, D.). Though United has the right to uphold their dress code policy, it does seem outdated and obsolete to deny two young girls on a flight with a common form of casual attire worn by many women and children today. Decades ago, air travel wear was not much of a problem, because men typically wore suits and ties and women were always in dresses (Deb, S.). Many people were not worried if they were meeting