Walmart is experimenting with a new dress code at a small number of stores, Bloomberg reports:
Walmart sells more blue jeans than anyone, but its in-store employees couldn’t wear them while on the clock — until now.
The nation’s biggest private employer is testing new dress codes in a small number of U.S. stores, hoping that more relaxed standards could help it attract and retain staff in a tight labor market.
Employees in some of Walmart Inc.’s 4,700 stores will now be allowed to wear shirts of any solid color, rather than just blue or white, according to an employee manual obtained by Bloomberg News. Blue jeans are also permitted — as long as they’re solid blue — whereas previously only khaki-colored or black denim pants were allowed. Visible facial tattoos are forbidden for those hired after April 14, the manual said.
I’m shocked that Walmart didn’t issue a press release claiming that the relaxed dress code was only possible thanks to the Trump tax cut.
It’s unclear whether the pilot program will expand to other stores. Walmart previously changed its dress code in 2015, allowing employees to wear black or khaki denim pants and letting those with more physically demanding jobs wear t-shirts instead of collared shirts.