The title of this post was the title of a post written for The Employment File less than six months ago.  When spring arrives and turns into summer, employer dress codes usually begin to receive scrutiny.  It’s fair to say that employees would like to dress more casually during warm or hot weather, and whether it’s fair to say or not, when dress codes meet warm/hot weather, more attention is given to female attire than male attire.  Thus, The Employment File post and this Tip of the Week post.

Before dealing with cleavage specifically, let’s think about how dress codes have evolved, and fair or not, let’s focus on how they have evolved regarding female attire.  I can remember dress codes that required women to wear dresses or skirts to work.  No pants allowed.  I can remember dress codes that focused on the number of inches a skirt or dress could be above a female’s knees.  I can remember dress codes that tried to address the tightness of a female employee’s blouse or shirt.  When pants or pants suits were finally allowed, dress codes made a stab at distinguishing between dressy and casual, professional and shabby, appropriate and inappropriate.   Those were the good old days.

Now, dress codes struggle with whether the midriff can show; whether pants can appear to have been painted on; whether females (although this sometimes involves males) can have a pierced nose, eyebrow, lip; whether they can have multiple ear piercings; whether tattoos must be covered (again, a male issue as well) and if so, what kinds of tattoos are permissible; whether shorts or short skirts can be worn to work; whether open-toed shoes are ok; and, yes, whether visible cleavage is acceptable.

In discussing the cleavage issue, the post in The Employment File says:  “Dress, both inside and outside the workplace, is an expression of culture.  Millennials have grown up seeing flesh on television, in advertising, on their peers.  In many ways, Millennials have become desensitized to the ‘distraction’ and shock that is cleavage.  With Baby Boomers on their way out and Millennials on the way in you can expect that the once traditional dress code will become even more lenient.”  All very interesting and worth more discussion.

There’s little debate about dress codes becoming more lenient.  My recent encounter with a receptionist wearing hole-in-the-knee jeans on “jeans Friday” reminded me of more leniency.  There is, it seems to me, considerable room for debate on the cleavage issue.  I’m a Boomer.  I notice cleavage and am distracted by it.  And I don’t beleive for one second that a male Millennial (also known as a member of the Y Generation) is any less distracted.  The author of The Employment File post is obviously unaware of The Man Gene, which doesn’t discriminate between Boomers and Millennials.  Millennials have also grown up seeing indiscriminate sex on TV, in the movies, on DVDs, and on the Internet.  Does that mean that they’d pay no attention to two co-workers going at it in the office hallway?

I’m not inclined to believe that cleavage is coming to your office or one near you anytime soon.  It’s unprofessional and inappropriate.  It’s distracting–at least to males afflicted with The Man Gene.  It leads to sexual harassment by some of these afflicted males.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not trying to blame women for the weaknesses of men.  I’m not saying sexual harassment is the fault of women.  I’m just stating a fact, which is that the vast majority of sex harassment charges involve allegations against men.  Courts have recognized this fact as a basis for allowing employers to have policies that limit dating among employees and would surely use this fact as a basis for allowing employers to have policies that limit the display of cleavage at work.

Another reason for my belief that we’re not on the verge of a cleavage invasion is that most of the advice given on dress codes is, for lack of a better term, anti-cleavage.  For example, in About.com: Human Resources, a somewhat lengthy article dealing entirely with dress codes says things like:  ”Yet we still need our employees to project a professional image for our customers, potential employees, and community visitors. . . . Clothing that reveals too much cleavage, your back, your chest, your feet, your stomach or your underwear is not appropriate for a place of business, even in a business casual setting. . . . Short, tight skirts that ride halfway up the thigh are inappropriate for work.  Mini-skirts, shorts, sun dresses, beach dresses, and spaghetti-strap dresses are inappropriate for the office. . . . Inappropriate attire for work includes tank tops; midriff tops . . . halter-tops; tops with bare shoulders . . . .” 

Call me old-fashioned.  Call me cleavage-obsessed.  Call me a poor old boomer still struggling with The Man Gene.  Or worse.  I prefer to think of myself as reasonable, practical, and business-minded.  It’s better for all employers if their employees focus on their jobs and become distracted after they’ve left the workplace.