Law queries

* What is the law on uniforms? I understand that our employers can no longer require us to wear them. Is that right?

The Human Rights Act 1998 brought the European Convention on Human Rights directly into force in the UK. Article 10 of the Convention gives everyone the right to "freedom of expression". What a person wears is clearly an expression of their personality or even of their cultural origins or religious beliefs. However, it is unlikely that Article 10 could be used to end company dress codes. The courts will look at the extent to which the company needs to express its personality through the dress code and will balance this against the limitations the code imposes on employees. Requirements that would also affect the way that an individual expresses her/himself outside work (for example rules on hair length) are more likely to be caught by the 1998 Act than are general rules about wearing uniforms.

More information: Human rights at work, Ed Keith Ewing (Institute of Employment Rights)