Swiss Bank UBS Pushes Invasive Dress Code On UBS Employees...

Apparently, Swiss Bank UBS is pushing a new invasive dress code on its employees in Switzerland, which includes what colour clothes to wear, requirements for the lengths of skirts for women, haircut styles, perfume usage rules, shaving guidelines for men, and makeup guidelines for women...not to mention, much, much more (44-pages worth!).

Here's the story from the Wall Street Journal:

Dress to Impress, UBS Tells Staff

First impressions count. This is the message Swiss bank UBS AG is sending its Swiss retail banking staff with a 43-page code dispensing advice on how to impress customers with a polished appearance.

Echoing rules applied at Swiss boarding schools, UBS's guidelines go beyond a list of dress "do's" and "don'ts" by providing hygiene and grooming tips often dotted with aphorisms worthy of fashion and beauty magazines.

The move is part of a test UBS is carrying out in Switzerland across five pilot branches. It follows a recent advertising campaign aimed at re-establishing confidence in the Swiss bank's brand and mending relations with clients.

The UBS Dress Code: Do's and Don'ts

Do's
For women:

Wear your jacket buttoned.
When sitting, the buttons should be unfastened.
Make sure to touch up hair regrowth regularly if you color your hair.

For men:

Store your suit on a large hanger with rounded shoulders to preserve the shape of the garment.
Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape.

Don'ts
Eating garlic and onions
Smoking or spending time in smoke-filled places
Wearing short-sleeved shirts or cuff links
Wearing socks that are too short, showing your skin while sitting
Allowing underwear to be seen
Touching up perfume during or after lunch break
Using tie knots that don't match your face shape and/or body shape

My question is, how will they enforce half of these rules? Especially the ones related to underwear/thongs and smoking...

If you would like to review the entire 44-page document, it can be found at the following link: Dresscode UBS à l’attention des collaborateurs PKB. However, please note that the document is in French (unfortunately I couldn't find an English translated version).

--jackandcokewithalime


(Image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Ubs-offenbach.jpg by Christos Vittoratos on Wikipedia
)