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As Long as We Look Good, work product doesn\'t matter
Date: Feb 25th, 2005 2:04:22 am - Subscribe
Mood: burdened


What to wear
on workers' minds

Cheryl Caswell
Daily Mail staff



Thursday February 24, 2005

John Wheeler hasn't been told yet whether he'll have to change the way he dresses each day for work at the state Division of Motor Vehicles.

But like many other state employees, it's on his mind since Gov. Joe Manchin said he wants state workers to dress more professionally.

"I have on blue jeans today," said Wheeler, who usually works in the stockroom but fills in several times a day in the information booth of the DMV building's main lobby.

While he is manning the booth, Wheeler is only visible from the waist up. And his clothing choice is a sensible one for the stockroom, where he can usually be found completely out of the eyes of the public.

"But they may say I have to wear a suit because I'm here several times a day," he said Tuesday. "If they do, I'll have to go buy one."

The governor has said that he wants state employees to don "business attire" and answer the phone professionally. While a specific dress code has not been announced, he has directed workers to answer phones with the grammatically correct "May I help you" instead of "Can I help you."

Kathleen Gallagher, who works in the Bureau of Employment Programs, spends nearly all of her day behind a desk, inside a cubicle, deep in an office on a third floor.

"The most the public sees of me is when I'm eating lunch in the cafeteria," Gallagher said.

And she's not happy that the governor is planning to dictate what she should wear.

"I've been dressing myself for 50 years, and I don't need Joe Manchin to tell me how to dress," Gallagher said.

Many state workers are just hearing rumors of women being required to wear dresses, pantyhose and specific nail colors and men being required to wear suits. But Gallagher has already gotten a directive from her department head. And she does not approve.

"I want to be able to wear clothes that are suitable for the weather, and for what I'm going to be doing that day," she said. "Sometimes I have to pick up and carry a lot of boxes. I'm not doing that in a dress."

The memo Gallagher received this week suggests that dresses and suits are acceptable choices, but not the only ones. It also allows for dress slacks, khakis and skirts.

The directive, which Gallagher said applies only to her department as far as she knows, calls unacceptable clothing choices "muscle shirts, tank tops, cutoffs, sheer clothing, spandex, T-shirts, sweat shirts and any hats."

"I don't get a clothing allowance," she said. "If you want me to wear certain clothes, then you have to supply it."

Gallagher also questions whether a dress code for state workers is legal. She cites a Mason County high school teacher who was fired for not adhering to a dress code in 1988. A Kanawha Circuit judge called the dress code unconstitutional and ordered the jeans and boots clad teacher reinstated.

"It's not enforceable," Gallagher said.

Not all employees think the governor's idea to dress them professionally is a bad one.

DMV customer service representative Kristy Peterson said, "Do I think we all need suits and ties, no. But I think it's important to have a professional appearance. We represent the state."

Peterson deals with a steady flow of people applying for a commercial driver's license. On Tuesday, she was dressed in a suit.

Across the hall, DMV customer representative Darrell Cunningham sported a bright green long-sleeved T-shirt. But he said he's no stranger to dress codes.

"I worked in the Kanawha City regional office," Cunningham said. "And we had to wear shirts and ties there. If they tell me to do it again, I will."

Another DMV employee representative, Nellie Brown, said she thinks a dress code is a good thing.

"It's your job. But every time we get a new governor, this happens," Brown said.

Brown said she has been a state employee for 23 years. She has worn jeans when working in jobs that didn't require her to be in contact with the public.

"But it doesn't bother me if there's a dress code," Brown said. "I think you should dress nice."

In the Secretary of State's Office, Chief of Staff Ben Beakes wears a suit and tie each day. There's no code, he said.

"(Secretary of State) Betty Ireland has a standing rule," Beakes said. "She says, ‘When you get up in the morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself -- do I look all right if the president of the United States walked in the office today?' "

"There's just an understanding in this office," he said. "The men wear a suit and tie, and the women know how to dress."
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