We provide 6 short sleeve t-shirts, one long sleeve, two sweat shirts (hooded or crew neck - their choice), one three season jacket, one windbreaker, baseball hat, carhardt winter jacket, safety and PPE items. The employee provides blue jeans or blue twill pants. They can wear shorts if they are hemmed - no cut offs.
We do not charge for the uniform items, although we do take a deposit ($150.00 - taken over two pay periods at $75.00 each pay period). The depsoit is returned when they are finished with their employment. At any time an employee can turn in used/worn out uniform items for new replacements - one to one. I also provide the option that the items that have been returned by former employees that are "used" can be turned in one for two. An employee turning in uniform can either get one new item or two "recycled" items that have been cleaned. We throw out anything that is approaching marginal. Any used item needs to look nearly new to be put back into the "used" stack. We don't force anyone to take the used items - but people often prefer it since they can get back twice the uniform, which means less washing for them. It also solves the problem for us of having slightly worn, perfectly good, uniform items just sitting around.
We also supply rain gear -but having a consistent supply of good quality rain gear has been a frustration for us. We have a rubbery kind now that rips easily and doesn't breathe well. I'm not opposed to spending money if we can find something quality.
We also supply a blue duffle bag - which we call the blue bag. It has a company logo on it and place to write the individuals name on it. In the blue bag they are to put their safety glasses (which we also provide a case/bag to protect them, hearing protection and assortment of gloves we provide. They are to always have their blue bag with them, regardless of the crew or truck they are in. There is no excuse for not having their PPE. We also provide a locker where they can store extra uniform items.
Uniforms are critical in my opinion. Our professionalism in large part is judged by the we present ourselves to our customers and the public at large. Clean, neat uniforms, tucked in shirts, etc. all are part of the appearance. I'm continually working at tightening the standards while being selective about the battles I choose.
Shirts are required, they may not come off. We opted not to allow tank tops since tatoos may be more of an issue - and some folks just don't belong in tank tops.
For supervisor/sales positions we have golf style shirts with logo embroidered on left chest above the pocket. We also provide windbreaker and golf wind shirts for sales.
We supplement the uniform with an end of the year present with embroidered gear - such as windproof fleece jackets or vests that are embroidered. Not everyone has these, but those that have been with us and have received them like them. So I'm considering adding these to the uniform outright.
I believe comfort is important. Charging an employee for the uniform means they likely will buy the least they can get away with, making them less comfortable, making the job less pleasant. The more I can do to accmodate their needs and maintain the company image, the better. If I provide the uniform I feel I am in a better position to mandate certain things and hold a tighter line. I also control the image of the company then by requiring that all uniform items are returned upon their departure - limiting the amount of company shirts or sweatshirts on the street that pop up in awkward moments or places I don't want them (i.e. bars, places of ill repute, etc.).
It's not inexpensive to maintain, but I think worthwhile. We decided to provide gortex plow jackets for winter time workers - pants and jackets for sidewalk crew and jackets for truck drivers. The bright safety yellow jackets (
Blue Moose, Inc.) make us noticable on site, provide increased safety, are comfortable/warm for the guys, and demonstrate to the guys that the company cares about their well being. The jackets are about $225.00 each - but I think they're appreciated and have been worth the investment.
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