I work in an organisation which requires all male employees to wear a tie when attending business meetings and conferences on behalf of the company. One of our managers refuses to wear a tie. How should we deal with this?

Dress codes can be a difficult issue for employers, as evidenced by the recent media coverage surrounding the case of a woman who was reportedly sent home from her job as a receptionist for refusing to comply with a dress code requiring her to wear two to four inch heels. It is not clear whether you have a dress code in place in this instance. If you have, then it would be prudent to check the contents of this as it may offer some guidance on the issue. If not, we would recommend creating a dress code for staff members going forward.

Employers are within their rights to instruct their employees to dress in a particular way whilst at work and employees will generally be bound by this. In