Uniforms Cleaning etc.

[biggy17620]

I work in NY and recently our locations in ny started a cleaning program where our employees can take a clean shirt when they come in and dispose it in a cleaning service bin when they leave. I believe the law states that in ny a company may make an employee wear a uniform, as long as the costs to purchase or maintain them does not bring them lower then minimum wage. Now all of them are provided shirts but they started doing it because someone was complaiing about cleaning and they are all minimum wage employees.
Now as a manager they do not provide us with anything but we are required to wear a shirt and tie a suit or suit coat and pants. They do not pay for it and they do not pay for cleaning. Would I be mistaken that they have to eaither pay us for the purchase of the suits shirts and ties etc and the cleaning, if it brings us underminimum wage. thanks

 

[cbg]

Yes, you would be mistaken. An employer is not generally required to pay for clothing that could be worn as street clothes; only for clothing that could not be worn outside of work.

 

[biggy17620]

So you would be classifying a suit and shirt and tie as street clothes, and then the large cost of purchasing them and cleaning them would not fall in to this catagory, especially since I have to buy like two new shirts a week and pretty much ruin one suit a week

 

[cbg]

What are you doing that you will ruin a suit a week? And since when is a suit NOT street clothes?

 

[biggy17620]

Well the shirts the company is cleaning now for the minimum wage staff is polo shirts that would be considered street clothes more then I would think a suit would be. I mean i dont go out shopping for grocerys and such in a suit, work weddings church not much more. And I have to repair seats get greesy paint, crawl in spaces oil from food dirt, the suits wear out fast kneeling and such repairing computers too.

 

[cbg]

Just because you don't go out normally wearing a suit doesn't mean it can't be considered street clothes. The law doesn't say that the employer is responsible for paying for anything that you wouldn't buy on your own; it says they are responsible for clothes that you CANNOT wear other than at work. You CAN wear a suit on the street; you just don't want to. That doesn't make the employer responsible for it.

I'll give you a maybe on the employer being responsible for cleaning, but you should confirm that with the state DOL before approaching your employer about it.

 

[biggy17620]

Well thank you for all the help, if nothing works at least I learned something. Thank You

 

[calalily]

Buy overalls to put on when you are doing particularly dirty work.