Forced to purchase expensive clothing . Is this legal?

[bubbleberry]

My wife works for a high end fashion retailer.

They have suggested that she wear their clothing to work, which is fine, when there is stuff that she can afford she buys it.

But the issue seems to be coming to a head, there is a meeting of management/owners and staff next week, they want the staff to wear their clothing and seem to be pushing the issue.

The problem is that my wife earns �6.50 per hour, and a pair of the companys jeans costs nearly �200.

Their dresses, their jackets, tops etc are much more expensive, and while they offer 50% discount to staff, by the time tax is added to the sale, whatever she buys becomes far to expensive for our income.

Can they legally state that she should wear their clothing?

She is an employee, not a customer, if they want her to wear the stuff, the least they could do is give the clothes at cost?

[stonekicker]

umm...no they can't legally force her to wear it - unless it is a uniform, in which case they should provide it for free. i would tell them to go and jump and follow it with a...i have been documentaing all the converstaions/information and will take you to a tribunal if you don't f*** off! what a bunch of snobby, stuck up bar stewards! tell your missus to satnd her ground and say if they want her to regulalry purchase clothing, they should up her wages accordingly. good luck and stand your ground x

[brenda]

Join a union and get your rep to attend this meeting .

Never heard such a load of rubbish , are sales that bad that they expect employees to contribute . Stand your ground and insist on a clothing allowance to meet these costs .

[Pimpernel]

I think that's preposterous! What do they think she's working for, pocket money? What if she didn't have a husband and was the only breadwinner in her household?

I had a similar experience when working in real estate (sales) 10 years ago. The director of the agency expected me to wear designer clothes, and he wanted me to have 12 different tailor suits, a different one for each consecutive day of 2 Monday to Saturday weeks. Plus the blouses, the shoes, the assorted handbags, the accessories... I had about 3 different cheap but smart suits (more trousers) and a dozen smart blouses, which I rotated, but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted me take what would be today a �5,000 loan ('to begin with' in his own words!) to go shopping with him: he would point out to me what he wanted me to buy, and I would foot the bill.
I changed job.