The lawyer spoke about the requirements for the appearance of an employee in companies

The employer has the right to impose requirements on employees' clothing, appearance, tattoos, makeup, or hairstyles if they are related to the company's image, work specifics, or occupational safety. However, such rules do not apply to everyone and should be specified in the company's internal regulations. Yuri Mitin, a lawyer and managing partner of the Intellectual Property Protection company, told about this on Friday, November 21.

"However, there is no direct concept of a "dress code" in Russian legislation. Such requirements are legitimate only if they are officially fixed in the employment contract or local regulations of the employer, for example, in the rules of internal labor regulations or a separate regulation on appearance. A prerequisite is to familiarize the employee with these documents under signature," the expert said in an interview with Finance Mail.

He clarified that this is stated in Articles 8, 56 and 189 of the Labor Code (TC) of the Russian Federation, and is also emphasized in the explanations of Rostrud (letter dated March 18, 2021 № PG/04981-6-1).

According to the expert, if an employer decides to introduce new appearance requirements in the course of work, he is obliged to develop and approve an appropriate local regulatory act, amend the employment contract or job descriptions, and familiarize employees with these changes against signature. If an employee violates the approved rules, this is considered a disciplinary offense, which entails the possibility of penalties: remarks, reprimands, and in case of repeated violations, dismissal. Disciplinary penalties are applied strictly according to the established procedure.

"Monetary fines for appearance, style of clothing, tattoos or makeup are not allowed by law — this contradicts the principle of an exhaustive list of disciplinary measures (Article 192 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation)," Mitin stressed.

The lawyer added that the requirements of the dress code have nothing to do with overalls. If an employee is required to wear a bathrobe or other protection, this is determined by labor protection standards (Article 221 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the employer should not only require the wearing of workwear, but also provide it free of charge, as well as provide care and repairs.

Mitin stressed that if an employee is being held accountable for his appearance, style, makeup, tattoos or hairstyles, but these requirements are not recorded anywhere or have not been brought to the employee's attention under his signature, then the penalties applied are illegal. In such a situation, an employee has the right to apply to the State Labor Inspectorate or to the court to protect their rights.

"Discrimination based on appearance, which is not determined by the specifics of work and is not prescribed in local documents, contradicts the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Article 3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) and can be successfully challenged," the lawyer concluded.

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Earlier, on November 20, Anastasia Gorelkina, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of HC Siberian Business Union, said that the company could provide additional payments for long-term employees who are government and corporate employees.

According to the expert, such surcharges are related to the policy of encouraging loyalty and retaining staff, as well as to the specifics of professional activity in areas where long experience is often accompanied by high workloads or specific working conditions. 360.ru .

In Russia, it has been proposed to consolidate in legislation the responsibility of employers for creating conditions that force employees to leave "of their own volition." The initiative was sent on November 18 from the Institute for the Study of Modern Politics to Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation.

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