# What is the stupidest/most unfair employer policy you've ever had to enforce?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-most-unfair-employer-policy-youve-ever-had-to-enforce/293437>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 7, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-most-unfair-employer-policy-youve-ever-had-to-enforce/293437 "2005-03-07T22:07:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-most-unfair-employer-policy-youve-ever-had-to-enforce/293437/41 "2005-03-09T21:33:01Z")

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I used to work for a marketing/pr agency that specialized in the beauty industry. Our clients were spas, cosmetology schools, beauty supply distributors, plastic surgeons, hair salons, etc. My boss was an extremely froggy-looking creep who was obsessed with how his female employees looked because “we work in the beauty industry and must present a certain image”. Even though we worked out of his basement. Which was in a remote suburb. Even though we saw our clients MAYBE once a month. Every single day we were required to wear pantyhose, business suits, and makeup. That was written in our employee manual.

I’ll never forget walking out the door to go have a meeting with one of my clients who was an hour or two away. Right when I was zipping my coat, my boss said to me, “Uh, are you going to put on lipstick?”

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**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-stupidest-most-unfair-employer-policy-youve-ever-had-to-enforce/293437/42 "2005-03-10T02:11:10Z")

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> [@VunderBob](#):
>
> I’m another former EDSer. The dress code was unreal. Pulling data cable in an automotive plant in a wool lend suit was unreal. Called in to the same plant at 3 AM because of a system crash, and I had to wear a suit again.
> 
> The biggest insult was “Well, you’re just not a team player”. 20 years later, I take that phrase as a compliment.

It relaxed a bit (not a lot) after Ross Perot sold it. A friend of mine showed up on his first day at one of their accounts during Generalissimo Perot’s days wearing a classic navy blue blazer, slacks, white shirt and tie and was told by his boss “We have a title for people who wear blazers to work… security guards”. He literally had to go home and change on his first day, and he didn’t even work with the public.

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