Wal-Mart Employees Upset About New Collar And Vest Dress Code

A number of Wal-Mart workers are outraged after the company decided to change its dress code policy from a plain blue shirt and khaki pants to one that requires a collared shirt and a vest.

Gawker reported the other day that Wal-Mart issued a statement on its website stating that starting September 29, all store employees will be required to turn up for work wearing a collar of some description. The company said it will provide the new vests but the employees will have to pay for them.

One employee, who responded in the comments section of the website, notied that the hourly wage for Wal-Mart employees is $12.92, and posted:

“With all due respect to the company, this is more of a financial burden to our family since this is our only source of income with my wife and two kids. We can hardly afford to live on my income now with us having to pay for a new uniform (aside from the vest). It’s silly.”

That employee has a good point. After all, why should workers who are already struggling to make ends meet incur more expense. After all, this is expense that they themselves weren’t even consulted about.

Another employee added to the comments, saying: “When will you admit you and the big fish at walmart were wrong and scrap this busy work project that you and others are using to justify your big paychecks?”

In response, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart told CNBC:

“We always want to hear feedback from our associates. Some are raising concerns and some are excited about the update. They think it will help them serve customers even better by being more readily identifiable.”

The same spokesperson noted that Wal-Mart employees are now allowed to wear khakis or black pants and a blue or white collared shirt, and so “they now have more options.”

Even so, the company’s employees are in disagreement with those statements, and are upset about the fact that they need to foot the cost for the new dress code.