The new look of criticism at Walmart

The spiffy new look Walmart store associates are sporting these days is drawing complaints from some quarters who think the company went too far in striving for a modest degree of uniformity in the appearance of employees.



Apparently, it is now too much for Walmart to require employees to dress a certain way while they are at work with the dispute centering on what constitute a uniform versus a dress code and whether Walmart should pay for the clothes employees wear to work.



Dress codes are commonplace in the retail industry where some method of distinguishing employees from customers is necessary. This is for the benefit of customers who are more readily able to locate an employee when they need service but it also helps employees know who does and doesn’t belong in the break room, the stock room or behind the customer service counter.



For decades, Walmart employees were easily identified by their signature blue vests with the words “how may I help you” on the back. Walmart then ditched the vests as part of a much larger store experience transformation initiative that came to be known as Project Impact. Free of the unfashionable vests, employees were allowed to wear khaki pants and a navy blue shirt. What soon became apparent was the fact that there are many shades of khaki and navy blue and employees were given too much leeway. Over time, it was hard to tell who worked at Walmart and who didn’t.



The same phenomenon exists at Target. Its employees are supposed to wear red shirts, but it is amazing to see the variations of “red” when shopping at a Target, everything from faded reds that border on pink to deep burgundies. Home Depot employees are easy to spot with their orange aprons and handwritten names and so are Lowe’s employees with their blue vests.



Walmart has brought the vests back but with a modern twist that features the company’s large yellow Spark logo on the back. It’s what is worn under the vest that has some folks riled up. Collared shirt are now required along with khaki pants. This got a group called Care2 up in arms so an online petition was begun that cited some familiar themes about how requiring employees to dress a certain way would imposed added costs on workers, many of whom are barely surviving. The group contends the dress code constitutes a uniform and therefore Walmart should foot the bill.



Now a lawyers and lecturer in Wharton’s legal studies and business ethics department has weighed in on an issue critics of the company has sought to define as a controversy. Wharton’s Deborah Weinstein said the company sparked outrage with its decision which could lead to class action lawsuits. Read her perspective here.