Legal Question

[cainam_nazier]

Greetings.  I am hoping some one with some Law back ground can help me riddle out a situation I am having at work.  I don't know if it is needed but it may help if you knew about Arizona employment law. 

The basic question is about uniforms.  I know a company can tell you what to where.  But the question I have is wether or not a company can tell you where to buy that uniform.

The back ground.  Our director is some what new and is on a big "appearance is everything" kick.  He does not like the colors of our current uniforms and whats to change that.  However he has also mentioned bringing in a Uniform Service to do all the cleaning and such for that.  Now here is the kicker.  It has come down to this.

We either A) Use the uniform service where they pick up and clean all the uniforms, and we as the individual employee will pay for it.  Or B) can opt to purchase the uniforms ourselves but we HAVE to purchase them from the same uniform company. 

Personally I think that this is wrong.  Sure a company can tell me what I have to wear at work, I understand their need to enforce dress code so that everyone presents the image that the company wants.  However....I do not believe that the company can tell me where to purchase said clothing.  I am confident that I can get the same clothing at a different location for cheaper.

So there are the basics, I will resist the urge to ramble further.  The subject is a little touchy for me.

[Doringo]

I don't know about the employment laws in Arizona but here it seems to be legal to pull stuff like that in the UK. You have to buy your school uniform from a certain manufacturer but that's mostly because it has the school motif on it, so unless your dress code includes symbols and motifs which only one company prints, they don't really have a good excuse..

[kiwibonga]

If enough people think the same way, you can start a petition... The only way the law will help is through a lawsuit, but who will follow you into legal action over uniforms?

The problem is really on a human level, if you present your case well and it has only positive effects on the company as a whole, and enough people support your point of view, there's no reason for them to refuse.

They may be bureaucrats, they're still human beings -- exploit that flaw!