As the weather gets warmer, employers should consider whether to relax dress codes in order to allow their employees to dress for the heat.
However, employers should be mindful that, if dress codes are relaxed, this is done to the same extent for both men and women, to avoid the possibility of discrimination claims.
What employers need to be particularly careful about is relaxing dress codes for women in warm weather and not for men, she adds. "If [male] employees in customer-facing roles have to wear a suit, a tie, and a long-sleeved shirt", while women can "wear summer dresses and lighter clothes, you have to be careful there". Doing that opens employers up to sexual discrimination claims, she says.
