Ben Dattner has written an interesting article for Blomberg Business about the baggage we all bring into the workplace. He points out that most of us are going to display many of the same strengths and weaknesses at work that we have at home and that our interactions with clients, colleagues and bosses are all likely to strike us in the same way as our family relationships do – we will think of colleagues as being ‘competitive’ like our siblings or ‘teacher’s pets’ like our classroom experience and clients can be ‘tough’ like a disciplinarian parent or ‘easy’ like the sweeter-natured one.

He goes on to say that ‘Much of our identity and sense of self can be either helped or hindered by our bosses, in a manner strikingly similar to how our parents either encouraged or discouraged us as children.’

It’s a fascinating idea, and you can look around any workplace and see those who haven’t moved out from under the parental shadow.

• Look for the employees, male or female, whose clothes seem to suggest a school uniform: collared shirts worn under grey, blue or black jumpers with grey or black trousers or skirts. Those people are likely to be brilliant subordinates: loyal, supportive, painstaking, but uncomfortable about taking charge – they are stuck in a perception of themselves as being ‘juniors’.
• On the other hand, those who dress like rebels are still playing out their teenage relationships with their families: bright colours, whacky hairstyles and extreme fashion clothing like puffball skirts for women or dangerously low trousers for men are all signs that this is a person who’s still keen to shock the ‘grown-ups’.
• A mature sense of style, with non-uniform colours in evidence, shows an individual who’s relaxed about their place in the family and the workplace. Coping well with events like dress-down days or dress up events shows flexibility and knowing what suits them and is workplace appropriate demonstrates they are a mature individual and able to cope with change.

Primark has caused fury in the charity world by insisting staff take scissors to children’s clothing to stop them being ‘resold by mistake’. Many charitable organisations have pointed out that there are many locations, such as Pakistan or Haiti, where children’s clothing is desperately needed.

Many retailers choose to donate their faulty or overstock items: M&S give vouchers to customers who take old garments to Oxfam and Monsoon send their unwanted goods to NewLife.

What about individuals though? Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter, donates clothing from the show to the dementia support charity A Peaceful Place – she normally wears one of her signature tight-fitting dresses six times before deciding viewers will be bored with it. At home though, she wears leggings, T-shirts and Ugg boots, preferring the casual look!

Many charities benefit from the auctioning of items of clothing donated by high profile individuals, but they are just as happy to receive donations from high street retailers.

Virtually all charities with retail outlets are happy to collect bagged clothing from the workplace, so it’s worth considering if you and your colleagues could organise a twice-yearly wardrobe blitz at home that can benefit a charity that you’re supporting through work.

As the days get shorter, appropriate work clothing becomes essential.

Making sure your workforce is properly dressed when working, especially for those working outside, can seem simple but it’s a major way of reducing injuries and risk of harm which means more work hours are devoted to work and fewer demands are made on the sick pay and physio budgets of large businesses in particular.

There are substantial safety risks to working outdoors in autumn and winter, ranging from sight to footing to weather conditions. The highest rate of workplace injuries in the UK is Northern Ireland, where a report this month says that the cost to the local economy there from work related injuries, ill-health and non-injury accidents is around £250 million per annum, substantially higher than in Great Britain. One reason for this higher level may be the relative importance of the construction industry in Northern Ireland in recent years, which may have caused a disproportionally higher rate of injury as a result of a disproportionally higher rate of construction work as a whole.

Hi-vis gear allows employees to be safe and be seen. It provides an employer with peace of mind about their liability and the employee with peace of mind about their visibility, especially in poor weather. Good outdoor clothing such as gloves, hats and even armbands for those who may be spending time outdoors but not usually employed there, such as staff changing display material or putting up workplace Christmas decorations can be literal life-savers.

It seems that in addition to the £2,190 per year that the average family spends on its summer and Christmas holidays, families are spending around £700 a year on toys, books and computer games for their kiddies.

This expenditure, based on the desire to keep children happy and busy, is a massive drain on family resources and in Wales, only just over half the population are saving for the future of their children, while in Northern Ireland, 74% of families are setting aside some money. According to a recent survey carried out by the Cooperative Bank, some of the biggest areas of parental spending are trips to the cinema, local attractions and fast food outlets to keep children happy after school or at weekends.

Such intense expenditure could mean that parents are struggling to keep up with other demands on their income, such as loans and mortgage repayments.

Saving money and keeping kids happy

There are a number of ways to keep children involved without spending so much money.

• Kitchen fun: there are many simple recipes to enjoy with your children and there are some real bonuses to making cooking fun. Knowing how to cook can help young people save money in later life, at college for example, and ensure they eat properly when away from home. Buy a couple of cheap aprons to save clothes from spills and splashes and get cooking. Once the kids are confident, let them make tea once a week – you may only get peanut butter sandwiches but they will get a boost to their self esteem and self reliance.
• Tie-dyeing can be a bit hippy, but if you combine dyeing old clothes with hosting a dress up party afterwards, you can have a fantastic double fun session for very little money. Pick a theme such as hippy (obviously) or Halloween and gather, fold and tie T-shirts before leaving them to soak in an appropriate colour fabric dye. Next day, when you’ve washed and dried the clothing, host a dance party in costume!
• Sporty kids are healthier and happier and playing sport needn’t be expensive. Instead of investing in soccer coaching or horseriding lessons, try setting up a simple rounders game with local kids, or teaching some old playground games. Use coloured vests to mark out teams and offer lots of soft drinks if the weather is hot.

Companies that set up a casual dress code are looking for a dual outcome:

1.    Employees being comfortable so they can work effectively
2.    Staff projecting a professional image  to customers, potential employees and visitors.

But this doesn’t mean all casual clothing is equally suitable. Some items just aren’t acceptable in the workplace, even if they are classed as ‘casual’.

What to wear

Clothing bearing the logo or advertising of your employer is usually given a high priority in the business workplace.

Apart from that, cotton or synthetic trousers in a single neutral colour or herringbone pattern are suitable for men while women can wear similar trousers but in a wider range of colours but also Capri trousers. Dresses  and skirts should be long enough to allow the wearer to sit comfortably in public but not so long that they present a hazard of catching in machinery – for this reason, some companies have recently banned this year’s fashion hottie, the maxi dress. Clothing that’s ‘business casual’ for the upper body includes: casual shirts, dress shirts, almost all jumpers, Polo-shirts, plain short or long-sleeved T-shirts, sweaters, cardigans and vest or camisole top when worn under another top. Culturally appropriate or hygiene required head-coverings are acceptable.

What not to wear

Anything that shows too much of your cleavage for women and your back, feet, stomach or underwear for either sex.

Jogging trousers, ski-pants and shorts are not generally considered to be business casual, but some businesses allow jeans. Overly glamorous, especially metallic printed or spaghetti-strap dresses can look inappropriate as being too dressy, while at the other end of the scale, T-shirts with offensive slogans or images, halter-tops and boob tubes, and vests can all look too sloppy. Hats, other than culturally required or hygiene mandated ones, are not generally acceptable in the workplace.

Legally, either an employee or his or her employer may take the responsibility for specialist work clothing, but where the employee bears the cost of upkeep of tools or pays for special clothing necessary for their work, they are entitled to a tax deduction for the expenditure incurred.

In virtually all workplaces, and almost all trades, flat rate expense deductions are agreed between the trade union negotiating for their members, and HMRC and this deduction is given as part of the tax code for the employee, without HMRC enquiring as to the actual expenditure.  However, where an employer provides the items required, or pays for them perhaps through a clothing allowance, no deduction is available to the employee and where the employer makes partial provision – say in offering knee pads for carpet fitters but not providing work gloves, the actual rate of deduction may be reduced accordingly.

In our cash-strapped days, it’s worth bearing in mind that if you have been getting a flat rate deduction it may be worth checking what you actually spend on work specific clothing because if your expense exceeds the deduction you could be entitled to a bit of a tax rebate.

Surrey County Council has gone a step further this year by removing the clothing allowances for the Council’s Chairman (£3,000) and Vice-Chairman (£363) entirely. This means that both media-acceptable smart suits and casual clothing suitable for getting involved in muckier work such as helping out serving school dinners or inspecting hospital boilers (which seem to be Council Chairman type activities these days) must be purchased by the post holder themselves.

In Nottingham the City Council has finished a consultation into school clothing allowances. As one of fewer than 43% of councils still offering a discretionary clothing allowance for pupils from low income families, the council understands the importance of the scheme but has decided to reduce payment levels. The scheme is now intended to allow parents to purchase basic school uniform items, namely a shirt, jumper and skirt or trousers.