Casual Friday or casual fired day?

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The Los Angeles Daily News has banned jeans and tennis shoes in the workplace. Tennis shoes? Do they mean sneakers? Hmm. Maybe newspapers really are out of touch.

But the paper isn’t alone. CNN reports that 64% of employers surveyed have banned flip-flops, 28% have outlawed jeans, and 49% have forbidden miniskirts. More than one-third (35%) of companies have gone as far as to send employees home for unsuitable work garb. Is getting sent home early a bad thing?

Lastly, 41% of bosses said that they would be more apt to promote someone professionally dressed over the colleague in the denim miniskirt, flip-flops and ‘Baby Mama Seeks Drama’ T-shirt. Anyone else remember Julia Robert’s response when questioned about her inappropriate work attire in ‘Erin Brockovich’? She said: ‘Ed, I think I look nice.’

Does someone in your office dress like she’s going to give her dog a bath? Do you think the clothes make the manager?

photo: Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich by Bob Marshak for Universal Studios.