'I asked her to pull out the company handbook and read the definition of business attire': Manager faces retaliation after insisting that employees have to wear business attire on Fridays when all other departments wear jeans

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Mar 4, 2025 3:00 PM EST

Company dress codes can be a contentious topic in the workplace. As Gen Z has entered the world of work, numerous debates have been sparked about what kind of outfits are appropriate to wear to the office (or not). The reality is that many workplaces have certain rules on the way that their employees should dress for a reason. Sometimes, it is a simple case of professionalism, and other times, it can even be a matter of health and safety.

However, it is also true that some companies and managers can try to enforce a dress code that is unnecessarily stuffy and strict. Does not wearing a dress shirt really impact somebody's ability to do their job effectively? Even relatively traditional corporate environments sometimes acknowledge this with the phenomenon of Dress Down Fridays, allowing employees to wear more casual and comfortable clothes in the workplace for one day of the week.

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    Cheezburger Image 10475664128
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Even in cases like these, though, some supervisors are uncomfortable allowing their employees to engage in such behavior. This is something one office worker pushed back against when their manager decided that their department would be the only one in the building not to join in on the blue jeans Fridays that had been recently instituted. Their response, soon copied by coworkers, was to stretch the ‘official’ dress code to its limits at the end of the week. It worked like a charm.

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    You want us to dress in business attire when all other departments get to wear blue jeans? You got it!

    TL:DR Manager insists we wear business attire on Fridays when all other departments were allowed to wear blue jeans. Through some well played malicious compliance that edict only lasted 3 weeks. This happened many years ago. I worked for a top US banking institution. In our building, all of the other departments were allowed to wear blue jeans on Fridays. My manager decided that our department had to wear business attire on Fridays.
    via mouse_g_23
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    To be clear, we had no customer facing presence. Also, our department processes check deposits from ATMs, and they came in mesh bags from the armored couriers. They were usually quite filthy and were frequently wet in bad weather. So when our manager told us that we couldn't wear blue jeans on Fridays like every other department the entire team was upset. Here is where we cue the malicious compliance. The next Friday, I went to my closet and found the most mismatched outfit I could put together,
    via mouse_g_23
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    My manager just happened to be on vacation that week, so nothing was said about my ridiculously mismatched outfit. Fast forward to the next Friday I, once again, chose the most hideous combination of an outfit that I could put together. Once again, I walked into the office with my head held high, confident in my business attire. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and EVERYONE on my team had on hideous combinations of clothing. As you can imagine, my boss walks in and sees everyone in their var
    via mouse_g_23
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    The look on her face was priceless! All 15 of us in hideous outfits, but all meeting the business attire dress code. She pulled us all into a meeting and told us that our attire was entirely inappropriate for a business environment and that she would have to write each and every one of us up. I asked her to pull out the company handbook and read the definition of what it said as business attire. She read it and it stated something like clean and pressed business attire consisting of slacks, skir
    via mouse_g_23
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    I asked her where in the guidelines does it say anything about whether the outfits "matched" or not. She couldn't find anything and said she would have to contact HR to discuss with them what her options were to write us up. Needless to say, none of us were ever written up. She did however say we still needed to dress in business attire.
    via mouse_g_23
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    Word quickly spread to other departments about her forcing us to wear business attire. The next week two departments around us decided that they would also dress up in hideously matched clothing. The managers of those departments quickly got in touch with our manager and put pressure on her as they didn't like how their employees were dressing. Our manager called us into a meeting and told us we could wear blue jeans on Fridays going forward. Malicious compliance wins! Sometime later, I will tel
    via mouse_g_23
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    Commenters were delighted by the textbook case of malicious compliance.

    Alarmed-Ride1719 Please share the sign in/sign out board. If it's as good as this story, I'll be excited to read it
    via Alarmed-Ride1719
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    CleanDataDirtyMind I just want pictures of the outfits
    via CleanDataDirtyMind
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    Realistic-Animator-3 This brings back memories... long ago I worked at a home improvement center as a cashier. We were issued white, logo shirts and everyone but managers wore jeans in the store itself, warehouse had their own uniforms. The company changed hands and someone at corporate decided the shirts were out, jeans were out, and we were issued bright, orange things to be worn over a shirt (not the white shirts issued). Sales was given vests and cashiers were given things that went over the
    via Realistic-Animator-3
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    Thankyouhappy Management and leadership are important, but you need a motivated crew who wants to work for that person. You need workers more than they need you.
    via Thankyouhappy
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    MsTacheNoire I love it when malicious compliance includes uniting the workforce against management!
    via MsTacheNoire
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    measaqueen I love that this made the other management go against this manager. If one department hates you, you get a reputation. If multiple department managers hate your policies, you're F'd.
    via measaqueen
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    narcissistssuck I have never understood why people feel the need to thrust their perceived power into everyone's faces and "dominate" their employees' behavior. I've been a manager for about 15 years, and my approach has always been to find the best people I can, train them well, and let them do their jobs! Pre-CO_ID, I managed a team that was small but mighty, and I did my best to support them in a stupid, poorly led department. We had fun and got the work DONE. I changed jobs right after CO_ID
    via narcissistssck
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    daheff_irl should have let her write you all up and then used it as evidence of bu ying. could have gotten rid of her that way
    via daheff_irl
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    DJ_HouseShoes I'm pretty sure HR would be interested in a manager calling an entire team into a meeting just to threaten writing them all up for something that is not an HR violation.
    via DJ_HouseShoes
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    Punkinpry427 Businesses don't like to see their employees unifying over a cause. It scares them.
    via Punkinpry427
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    Surgeplux First it's unflattering formal wear, next its seizing the means of production
    via Surgeplux
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    FloppySlapper Having a strict dress code in a business or position that isn't customer facing is just ridiculous. It's just another way for businesses to control their employees and for managers to feel like they have power.
    via FloppySlapper
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    Compulawyer True malicious compliance. Well done.
    via Compulawyer
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    Ich_mag_Kartoffeln I once had a mangler try to tell me I had to wear a suit, tie, etc. when filling in for my supervisor. After arguing, and him telling me outright This Was Happening, I "conceded". And then locked the pair of us outside, in the 45°C sun. And then told him in very Australian language that HE had to keep his jacket on, because that was what he was trying to make me do. He agreed that I would continue to wear shorts and short sleeves before I let him back into the air conditioned
    via Ich_mag_Kartoffeln
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    eLishus This type of style is called "business satire"
    via eLishus

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bank jeans dress code employee malicious compliance work employees reddit thread Reddit casual
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