Employment Laws : Office Dress Code

[A1Mikey]

Does any one know whether you can get fired for wear jeans to work, when everyone else wears suits. The office handbook does not cover this point. Presumably under employment laws all the bosses would be able to do is moan? is this correct? Has anyone tried this?

[factor-fiction]

If you have been there less than 12 months they can sack you for almost any reason and that would include wearing jeans.
A dress code like this is likely to be enforceable. Any decent employer would informally advise you, then warn you before dismissing you. If you have been there more than a year they should follow a procedure.

[buildersmate]

There is not straight 'yes' or 'no' answer to this one.
If it has been made a specific condition of employment, then that's pretty clear - but you say it isn't.
For customer-facing departments (like reception) it is possible to demand minimum standards or even specific dress-codes.
Of the various potentially 'fair' legal reasons for dismissal, this one would potentially fall into 'misconduct'. It would be a brave employer that decided to dismiss for reasons of dress in jeans. The test, of course, is that employer would have to dismiss, then the employee would have to challenge the dismissal through an Employment Tribunal.
You are therefore probably on safe grounds, but don't expect 'the management' to appreciate your stance. There are various ways to put pressure on an employee.

[Twenty20]

If you are talking about yourself here, wouldn't it just be a lot easier to wear acceptable clothes to work rather than trying to make a point and possibly being dismissed for it? If you cause problems over issues like this your employers will probably be looking to get rid of you at the next opportunity anyway. Is it worth it? There's plenty of important issues in the workplace but personally I don't feel that wearing jeans when everyone else is smartly dressed is one of them.

[factor-fiction]

Good point, well made, Twenty20.