Got in trouble for being kilted at work

[GreenDragon]

So since today is national tartan day I went to work kilted. I work at a large home improvement store. Yesterday i checked the dress code at work. Predictably it says nothing about kilts it says skirts and dresses may be worn as long as they are no shorter then 2 inches above the knee. So I asked the closest thing we have to an HR person and she said its aloud and she knows of another store who had someone work kilted before.

So I figured I was safe I wore the kilt and From 5am until 1 pm i got no negative comments. Not a single bad comment from coworkers, customers or assistant managers. At around 1pm the store manager sees me for the first time today his eyes widened and he said "come with me". Then he preceded to tell me I was unprofessional for wearing a kilt. And said " You decided to wear this on the day the district manager is here" I told him it was national tartan day and from what i see it isn't against dress code. he told me he thinks it is and he went to check. few minutes later i get paged and he tells me he will let it slide if i don't wear it again. I declined and told him i want to know for sure if i can wear it . few minutes later i get called into his office. He calls me unprofessional again says they are gonna let it slide today cause " he believes I'm right that its some sort of holiday even though it isn't on his calendar". And tells me if I wear it again he will have to go up the HR ladder to check whether i can wear it or not.

I asked why is a female allowed to wear a skirt but i cant wear a kilt and i was told " women are aloud to wear things men aren't". So being away i move a lot at work have to sit on forklifts and climb ladders i also had shorts on under the kilt just in case. I am just not sure how it is unprofessional.
Sorry just had to rant a little bit.

"I'll let it slide" sounds like he really had no clue what to actually say about it.

[Frank McGrath]

[ " im not spending 2 hours on the phone to find out.

Has your boss ever heard of email? I hear that it is catching on in most places.

[Jack Daw]

My suggestion is not to press it with the boss. You may win on this point about the dress code, but he may make a point to win on some other point that you won't like. Office politics can get ugly, so you have decide whether wearing a kilt and iritating your boss is worth it.

[Nighthawk]

My suggestion is not to press it with the boss. You may win on this point about the dress code, but he may make a point to win on some other point that you won't like. Office politics can get ugly, so you have decide whether wearing a kilt and iritating your boss is worth it.

Problem with that is that it tells this boss that his behavior was correct and acceptable, which is, of course, a perfectly acceptable course of action. However, that kind of behavior is nothing more complicated than the behavior of a school yard bully. You let him get away with that, and he'll make a target of you for future abuse. You know how I dealt with bullys? I punched them in the face. You push back, they stop their abuse. (Please note- I'm not advocating use of violence. It's a metaphor meaning "Stand up to him now or let him push you around forever!")

[madmacs]

Failing that, maybe Woodsheal showing up in full Jacobite mode could put the fear o' God in him! Or...maybe not...LOL

Clan Maclean probably havent bought any battle axes recently... im sure theyd have something suitable at the store... not sure what the manager/district manager would think of it...

[AFS1970]

I had a discussion about this subject the other day with my Brother. He is retired from a job with very strictly enforced uniform requirements. However they would periodically get the requests for Dashikis and other ethnic garments. All were usually turned down. However he said he always told his boss that he would petition to wear a kilt every day if those requests were ever approved. Now the interesting thing about his workplace is that they have a tartan, and the kilt is an approved alternate uniform for one assignment (a pipe band). So he could have actually requisitioned one from the uniform shops. He said it never came to that, but he always thought it would make for an interesting situation.

[Zardoz]

I think the most "unprofessional" part of that exercise was the boss interupting your work day three times, "on the day the district manager is here" to call you to the office for nothing.
This reminds me of the times my (former) manager at the bike shop would spend part of his day bird-dogging me, looking at my transactions, timing my coffee breaks, etc... to try and get something on me that would overrule the facts that I had been there for 10 years, had a ton of regular customers, and made the place a lot of money, with the owner, or get me pissed off enough to quit.

[robbiethepiper]

Clan Maclean probably havent bought any battle axes recently... im sure theyd have something suitable at the store... not sure what the manager/district manager would think of it...

I'm a bit old to be an effective warrior, but if there's a need for pipers to lead the bloodthirsty kilted hordes, I'll book a plane ticket across the pond now!

[Mark Stephenson]

Whatever you decide to do, my recommendation is to take the time now and document EVERYTHING in writing. Get a notebook and make a log with the date, time, person you spoke to, and your recollection of the conversation. Having a personal log can't hurt a thing, and may be worth its weight in gold if you do decide to pursue this.

[Zardoz]

Whatever you decide to do, my recommendation is to take the time now and document EVERYTHING in writing. Get a notebook and make a log with the date, time, person you spoke to, and your recollection of the conversation. Having a personal log can't hurt a thing, and may be worth its weight in gold if you do decide to pursue this.

Great advice there.