In the USA in particular, dressing for work is a political and social minefield. Increasingly this is becoming true in the UK too. It’s important to look right but also to feel right, and this is a constant debate between HR departments and others.

In many countries there are no legal restrictions on clothing, but this is not universally true. Some countries have religious and cultural clothing restrictions which are enforceable in public. In terms of employment, no dress code can be discriminatory – this means that an enforceable dress code, as opposed to guidelines, must be acceptable to all ages, genders, religions etc.

It’s notable that professional business attire has become more popular with both employers and customers – while a casual dress culture seemed to be developing right up to the millennium, it’s become quite common for a more restrictive dress code to be enacted by employers since then.

Many educational organisations are reinstating guidance on dress codes for students and alumni – once again the lead is being taken by the US but many British universities now have a support for those attending interviews that includes a clothing consultation.

It’s a safe bet that neutral colours, natural fabrics and formal fashion will continue to be the requirements for interview clothing in the decade ahead, but for men, polo-shirts have slipped under the radar and become the ideal garment for an ‘informal interview’ eg a breakfast meeting or a group interview, while for women, a long sleeved T-shirt, skirt and boots are considered to be the same dress for success uniform for the informal interview.

David Cameron is about to announce that unused Government offices will be offered to budding entrepreneurs as launch pads for new businesses across the UK. The idea is to try and kick-start the economy through an entrepreneurship boost.

The huge stock of buildings owned by the government is to be used to match capacity to need by providing more than 300 premises at low rents for a year boosting Treasury finances and giving entrepreneurs a chance to rocket their business ideas into reality.

And like Cinderella, dress is all important. Rick Santorum, a candidate for the American Presidency, has been winning friends and votes through his dress code. While his rivals wear boring suits, he has launched out into what the Americans call a sweater vest – what the British have always called a tank top. However he does in the candidacy race, he’s certainly gained a massive amount of recognition through his appearance, and that’s a lesson for all entrepreneurs. Marketing matters, not just for your business, but for you as the figure who embodies the business. So self marketing means:

Look at what your competition is doing and dare to be different. Think about Richard Branson and the Virgin adverts which subverted the ‘traditional’ adverts of other companies, just as his jeans and shirt wardrobe subverted the ‘suits’ of his rivals.

Entertain people – wear something bright, something relaxed, something that people can talk about. Even if they don’t like it, they will remember you: bright polo shirts with smart casual trousers can look good for men, or for women, a jewel coloured camisole top under a designer jacket can really make you stand out from the crowd.

For many, and not just women of a certain age, winter offices can be a problem. Those whose metabolisms are fast will often find that the temperature of a winter office is kept uncomfortably warm and that they would be quite happy wearing their summer clothing in the depths of winter! But that isn’t always appropriate to the season and what looks okay when everybody is dressing for warmer weather can seem inappropriately casual when others are well wrapped up in polo-necked jumpers and cosy fleeces.

The answer is simple: clothing either insulates or refreshes, so choosing clothing that refreshes allows people to look as if they are in business attire but still feel comfortably cool.

Colours are important. You can wear sleeveless or short sleeved T-shirts that will look thicker and heavier if they are in winter colours like purple, dark green, red or mustard. Pop them under a lightweight shirt or silk cardigan and it will look as if you are layering your clothing like everybody else but actually you’ll be ventilating your arms by only having one thin layer between your skin and the air.

Avoid polo necks and turtle necks and all acrylic clothing. Stick to cotton or poly-cotton polo-shirts, and don’t button the neckline to allow maximum exposure of the torso (which sets the core body temperature) to the air. The more we cover up the chest and neck the hotter we feel.

For both men and women, crisp cotton shirts worn loose if you’re a man or belted low on the hip for women, are a good alternative to jumpers – women can pop a camisole top under the shirt and wear it largely unbuttoned and it looks like an extra layer but is in fact as cool as can be.

Scarves can be worn unwrapped. If everybody else is knotting a scarf around their neck, just lay yours under the collar of your shirt. It reduces the heat factor by more than 40% but keeps you looking like everybody else.

Wear a sleeveless fleece instead of a jacket – it looks appropriate to the weather but is much cooler than a sleeved jacket.

Casual clothes in technical fibres will wick away sweat in a really overheated environment so look out for sporting clothing that you can wear under smarter shirts.

In a provocative article in the Financial Times, hospital doctor Sophie Harrison points out how the role of uniforms matters in the healthcare workplace. A 2007 ruling banned the traditional white coat for doctors and brought in a policy of bare arms from the elbow down, in an attempt to increase hygiene procedures. This, in turn, was designed to fight hospital transmitted infections like MRSA or c difficile.

The result though, has been to confuse patients and visitors, who struggle to identify clinicians and other hospital staff, and to create a culture of fear which has led to excessive measures in some bacteria-conscious hospital visitors.

If workplace hygiene is essential, then taking a look at premises, as well as work clothing, can be the best route. If staff have to get changed in toilets (as Harrison claims) it’s much more likely that they will come into contact with dangerous bacteria – and bacteria and viruses are much more easily spread by hand to hand contact than they are on clothing, so it’s what staff touch, more than what they wear, that matters.

And if you have an environment like a clinic, hospital or other health centre, the effect of removing distinctive uniforms may be to add to the psychological stress of the non-hospital employee – Harrison says that it’s now difficult to distinguish junior doctors, ward pharmacists and medical students by clothing alone and that can cause anger and distress in people who don’t understand why the ‘doctor’ in front of them is unable to help them.

Clearly defined uniforms are important and there’s no need to sacrifice clarity for hygiene – colour coding of tabards and different styles of short sleeved shirt and polo shirt can really help visitors to understand the distinctions in employee status and responsibility.

According to Regus, who provide office services, more than half the working population whose jobs are desk-based will be at work, or will check their emails and do home-based work over the Christmas break.

Around a third claimed that this was going to cause ‘serious upset’ for family, friends or partners, or had done so in the past. For small businesses the stress of the festive season is likely to be even greater.

• 5% of business owners planned to work on Christmas Day and 10% will be working on New Year’s Day too.
• Nearly 40% of business owners will be working at some point over the festive period, despite the fact that their business is officially closed.

It’s a paradox, because 40% of the office workers travelling to work think they will achieve ‘very little’ between Christmas and New Year.

Employers should learn from this survey to explore how the same technology that allows for work flexibility can damage holidays and family life. Tiredness and family rows are unlikely to contribute to business success and trying to create proper home working systems so people can work from home in the night-wear if they want to, or, as a minimum, ensuring that staff working unusual hours are able to dress in casual clothing, take regular breaks and benefit in some way from their efforts. Some firms offer an in-office ten minute head and shoulder massage to any staff working the Christmas period and others provide a New You buffet of healthy foods so that workers can snack on fruit, nuts and salads as they work. It all contributes to a sense of worth and stops stressed, overfed and under-exercised individuals making workplace mistakes through tiredness, burn-out or simple resentment.

Many HR experts are highlighting the need to make Christmas events casual and low-key or risk putting pressure on staff who feel compelled to buy clothes or gifts to be able to take part in the workplace Christmas experience.

On the other hand, businesses need to show that they appreciate the hard work and sacrifices of employees and the contribution their hard work has made to surviving the global economic crisis.

Tailoring your party to the size of your business is important. It’s a good idea to ask people what kind of party they would like, and to appoint a member of the staff team to receive their suggestions, as it’s quite difficult for employees to make suggestions to the CEO or some other high-powered individual.

Ideas that are being implemented by a lot of organisations this year include:

•    Bowling parties with teams being given printed ‘team shirts’ in which to bowl.
•    Go-karting or mini-golf tournaments or a treasure hunt around a local place of interest (get permission if you are using a building or location)
•    A chocolate making or pizza building party – especially for those firms where many employees have children as this allows families to be invited along.

There seems to be an increasing concern about the role of clothing in small businesses, particularly those that offer some kind of professional service. As companies downsize and out-source, it’s becoming important that the appearance of all those involved in a company reflect the company ethos, including the professional nature and status of the organisation. The loss of intervening layers of middle management often means that those at the front of the business, such as receptionists, are the figureheads for the business in general and so their appearance becomes vital.

However, it can be difficult for small firms to discuss, let alone impose, a dress code on members of staff who have got used to dressing casually or provocatively. One sensitive way of dealing with this issue is to hold a firm-wide seminar or lunch meeting on the subject of Appropriate Work Clothing using one of the many online guides to dressing for success. Divide the company on gender lines for this event and offer some light-hearted fun as well as serious exploration of what counts as professionally appropriate clothing.

You can, for example, invest in some clothing props: these could be anything from fridge magnets of famous figures with a range of magnetic outfits through to paper cut-out dressing up dolls, right up to shop window dummies and cheap clothing in the form of second-hand or discount clothing. These can be used during the session to create the most and least appropriate outfits for various situations: work, barbecue, going to the theatre etc – this stops it feeling like a lecture and gives people an idea of how to put an outfit together: not a skill that everybody possesses!  If you really want to invest in your staff, you can even get an image consultant to come in and suggest the best colours for each member of the team to wear.

Once the seminar has taken place, you can have one-to-one conversations with any team member who is sloppy or overly sexy in their dress habits, confident that you can hold a conversation on professional grounds without it being seen as a judgement on personal style.

The Accrington Stanley team have demonstrated their support for the East Lancashire Hospice by wearing specially printed T-shirts for their team warm up each Saturday.

The T-shirts are designed to help raise awareness about the services the hospice offers as well as raising money for it. Supporters are encouraged to contribute to the running costs of the Hospice during a collection held before the match. The season-long partnership will have events most weeks to raise funds for the hospice.

Over in Coventry, shoppers were surprised by office workers dressed as animals. The ‘beasts’ who work in Homeless Internationals office usually wear office attire but for one day they put on animal costumes and travelled the city centre to raise funds for the charity’s slum dweller programmes in Africa and Asia. Two of the staff even chose to wear their costumes on their cycle to work, rather than donning their usual casual clothing.

November is a great time to organise a clothing based charity event at work, as it coincides with Halloween. Many employers are now offering the chance to wear fancy dress for the day as a way of building team spirit in the office or factory along with giving something back to the local community or a nominated charity.

Ian Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, is hosting a Wear It Pink day on 28 October. He’s opted for a baby pink tank top over a pink striped shirt as his wardrobe choice and he’s hoping  schools, colleges and businesses across the UK will choose to ‘wear it pink’ too, with each individual who does, donating £2 to breast cancer research. Around 48,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually in the UK, with around 340 men being discovered to have the cancer.

Clothing for Charity days, as they are called in the voluntary sector, are becoming increasingly popular with schools and large businesses and are now starting to feature in small business units too. The idea, whether it’s to dress down in a formal business (solicitors wearing shorts and jeans) or dress up in a casual one (call centre staff coming to work in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ attire, is to have fun and to raise funds for a nominated charity. Some organisations do this once a month, usually on a Dress Down Friday when staff are allowed to wear more casual clothing if they pay a small ‘fee’ that goes to fund the charity’s work. Others make it an annual event like school children being allowed to wear red to school on Red Nose Day.

It can be a great team-building idea, but it’s important to ensure that your dress code matches the aims of the charity or your good idea can backfire with bad public relations, as happened in 2008 to a major fundraising evening.

The two biggest issues that cause problems for employees and employers over the summer: heat and holidays!

The problem with heat is often an intermittent one, especially in the UK, which can make it difficult for employers to manage soaring temperatures for just a few days, such as in the recent heatwave. However when temperatures become uncomfortably high, and there is no set maximum, employers should consider improving conditions by:

•    Insulating heated areas such as pipes
•    Providing portable air-cooling systems
•    Ensuring window shading is effective
•    Offering fans and other air circulation
•    Relaxing clothing rules to ensure people can dress sensibly to take account of heat while still remaining safe
•    Moving work-stations and benches further from heat sources or rotating work roles so nobody spends all day subject to radiant heat.
In addition, those working outside should be offered hats and water breaks to ensure they don’t develop heat- or sun-stroke.
Holidays are often a bone of contention too. In 2010 ACAS took more than 100,000 calls about holidays and the working time arrangements. The most common questions include:

Can flexible working requests be made just to cover just the school holidays?

The answer is no, any request for flexible working, if agreed, creates a new work pattern with the employee who has made the request and that is a permanent change to their employment contract. However, many employers make other, informal, arrangements temporary or interim changes to work patterns to ensure that they can cover the businesses needs in the summer holidays and to allow them to treat all employees fairly.

Can employee legally take time off if their childminding arrangements break down during the summer?

Yes, employees have a legal right to ‘reasonable time off for dependants’- this means giving them time off to resolve family emergencies – usually this is unpaid and generally lasts around one or two days (or whatever you consider reasonable in the individual’s circumstances) giving time to put alternative arrangements in place. It is acceptable for the employer to suggest that the employee uses annual or special leave for this purpose and an employer can consider, but is not bound, to offer special leave with pay.