Man refuses to be tied down by dress code

A MAN who was told he must wear a shirt and tie at work is a victim of sexual discrimination, an employment tribunal was told yesterday.

A dress code brought in by the Department for Work and Pensions in England stipulated men working in Jobcentre Plus offices across the country had to wear a collar and tie to work but set no similar stipulation for women.

Now Matthew Thompson, an administrative assistant at Jobcentre Plus in Stockport, Greater Manchester, has taken a test case against the DWP complaining of sexual discrimination.

Women in his office were allowed to wear T-shirts. Once, a female colleagues even wore a football shirt without facing disciplinary action, Mr Thompson told a tribunal in Manchester.

"It may not be the convention for women to wear a collar and tie, but the point I am making is that a similar standard of business dress is not applied to women as it is to myself," he said.

"Women are allowed to wear T-shirts, they have logos on the T-shirts, and on at least one occasion they have worn football tops."

Mr Thompson said he had worked as a administrative assistant for the Benefits Agency before it merged last year with the Employment Service, creating Jobcentre Plus. His duties included sorting the post and photocopying documents and he rarely came into contact with members of the public.

But when the two bodies joined together in April 2002, a "dress standard" was drawn up by national management to ensure staff were dressed smartly and consistently in all offices, the tribunal heard.

Mr Thompson immediately refused to comply with the new dress code, wearing jeans and a polo shirt to work and failing to wear a name badge.

He was given an oral warning and eventually began to wear smart trousers, a shirt and tie and his name badge last July.

But he maintained that giving such "prescriptive" guidelines for men while giving women discretion to dress smartly was sexual discrimination and breached his human rights.

Mr Thompson, who wore a blue shirt and a pattern-print tie at the hearing, yesterday suggested that business wear for women involved wearing "blouses or business suits".

Mr Thompson's counsel, Karen Monaghan, said the dress code was unfair and being enforced unfairly.

Jobcentre Plus regional director Terry Moran said the dress code was introduced to ensure all staff were dressed consistently.

Mr Thompson claimed the dress code discriminated against him because of his sex and breached his human rights. He was also seeking compensation for injury to his feelings.

The hearing was adjourned until today.