Archived Walmart Employees Sound Off About Having to Buy Their Own Work Clothes

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buliSBI

buliSBI

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Why are they crying about that. About every retailer has been transitioning to employees buying their own work clothes. Target has been doing it for years. You can claim job expenses on your taxes.

http://abc11.com/careers/walmarts-new-dress-code-criticized-by-employees/296028/


Walmart introduces new dress code; employees must buy own clothes
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Friday, September 05, 2014
Employees at Walmart are about to be forced to dress a little nicer at their own expense.

The world's largest retailer has unveiled a new dress code for its massive workforce, Business Insider reports. Starting Sept. 29, associates must wear navy blue or white collared shirts paired with khaki or black pants, capris or skirts.

Employees will also be required to wear a Walmart-branded vest, which the company will provide. However, Walmart says its employees will have to purchase the rest of their work uniform at their own expense. The company even set up a website for employees to buy their new required work clothes at Walmart.

The news has much of the mainly part-time, minimum wage workforce upset. According to post by Gawker, many of the employees have been sounding off on social media saying they can't afford to buy new clothes on a minimum wage salary, even with their employee discount.

Gawker points out that last year, "Walmart gave its shareholders nearly $13 billion in dividends and share repurchases. Walmart employees may purchase new Dickies work pants for the low price of $19.97."

Do you think Walmart workers should be required to pay for these required clothes? Let us know on our Facebook page or in the comments below.
 
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I don't see that they are in better than us Spot employees. We buy our own.....
 
All I remember was the blue vests.

I think some of the newer larger marketvolume stores gave employees a blue shirt with the Walmart logo.

A pair of khakis $20. A blue shirt $12.
 
Am I remembering correctly that if the dress code is officially required, the company has to provide the uniforms? I thought that was how Target got around that by "strongly suggesting" that we have to wear red and khaki.

That may be a source of their displeasure.
 
Very few places provide uniforms. Many times if the company requires the shirt have their logo on it, they'll provide it, at least in my experience. I had I think 2 polo's back when I worked at Arby's (neither of which fit me right cause I was a tiny 16 yr old girl). From there on it was this color shirt with this color pants. I think the most relaxed dress code I've ever encountered is currently at Trader Joe's. We can wear pants or shorts of any color as long as they're not sweats and clean. All t-shirts are provided to us. We are all provided with t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, and sweatshirts. If we feel we need more or need new ones all we have to do is ask and they will order them for us.
 
Zone said:
Am I remembering correctly that if the dress code is officially required, the company has to provide the uniforms? I thought that was how Target got around that by "strongly suggesting" that we have to wear red and khaki.

That may be a source of their displeasure.
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A company only has to pay if they require they be bought at a specific place.

Goodwill has a great selection of khaki shirts for about $5 a piece.

Walmart has been navy blue (collar part is new) and khaki for years now. So there is really little difference here.
 
I think they are crying like babies because before basically they could wear whatever they wanted and than they put their vest on over top of that. So now that there is a defined what most be worn some of them do not have that item so they are crying. They are blaming the cost of having to buy the clothes as the reason they are upset but I think the real reason is because now they cant just roll out of bed and wear whatever they want anymore.
 
buliSBI said:
You can claim job expenses on your taxes.
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You can, but if the your total of deductibles is less than the standard deduction, it doesn't make a difference. And when you work part-time for around minimum wage, I doubt you have enough deductions to be above the standard deduction.
 
Maybe instead of calling them babies we should be pissed we have to spend money on work clothes too.We are paid a poverty wage and expected to use some it to keep our job.

Personally my clothes get destoryed doing signing and it seems unfair that I am expected to keep buying new stuff so I can look brand.

Oh and you can not deduct the cost of your clothes on your taxes because they are items you can wear outside of work.
 
Every retail job I have ever worked required the employees to supply their own uniforms with the exception of certain items that were company specific.

Grocery store #1:
I supplied black pants and white dress shirt with collar. They supplied a tie and an apron in the company colors. All male employees had to wear these regardless of position, management was issued vests in lieu of aprons.

Grocery stores 2 & 3:
I supplied pants, they supplied company shirt and apron (position depending).

Current job:
Very loose dress code that is pretty much "wear what's appropriate for the task at hand". Working in the shop? Wear whatever you don't mind getting filthy/damaged. Working in the office? Wear something clean so you're not getting shop gunk everywhere. Meeting a client? Get cleaned up and break out the business casual wear. I have worn outfits ranging from slacks/shirt/tie to jean shorts and sleeveless t shirt all supplied on my own dime. Company Dickies shirts are available for free with name embroidery and company logo but not required.
 
They're crying about it because they probably already have a plethora of clothing items that fit the old dress code. And many retail companies give a discount on clothes for work (in addition to the discount) at least when you start. When you start at macys you get coupons for black items that fit the requirements then periodically, they have sales for black junk for employees. American apparel, Abercrombie, etc do similar sales and deals as well.

If target all of a sudden said we had to wear collard shirts only, I'd be crying too! I have like 18 red t shirts, two cardigans, a hoodie. They don't even sell collard shirts for women, though, so I'd be crying for more than one reason.

Also, idk about other Walmart's, but at mine, they were never able to wear anything under the vest. They wore blue tops and solid pants whether they put the vest on or not. They have been upgraded to beige pants and collard shirts. Replacing all of your work items at once is an expense. Especially when you're unprepared. When starting a new job, you know you'll have to buy new stuff. When you're just going to your same dusty job and all of a sudden have to replace everything? That's a pain in the ass and in the checking account.
 
Real talk, I just bought a bottle of febreeze because I can't afford to buy more khakis lol. I'm down to two pairs between thigh friction and apparently the men msc chino shrinks a ton. (I followed wash instructions, but sometimes laundromat washers and dryers are calibrated differently)
 
Signkitty said:
Maybe instead of calling them babies we should be pissed we have to spend money on work clothes too.We are paid a poverty wage and expected to use some it to keep our job.

Personally my clothes get destoryed doing signing and it seems unfair that I am expected to keep buying new stuff so I can look brand.

Oh and you can not deduct the cost of your clothes on your taxes because they are items you can wear outside of work.
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It's all a matter of perspective. Walmart actually pays it's employees more than Target (in my experience) but treats it's employees far worse, all the way up the corporate ladder. If you are unhappy with your pay, there is only one person that can change that. As far as claiming clothing on taxes as a business expense, yes you can... just like a car can be driven outside of work purposes, but IS IT? That is where the line is drawn. If you do not wear your red and khaki outside of work, claim away. The only thing is.. your standard deduction is probably higher than any itemized deduction you would take working at Target. lol
 
My accountant (Turbo Tax) tells me I can not deduct my clothes.


"Determine which work clothes are necessary for your job but not suitable to wear outside of work. However, just buying clothes specifically for work and never wearing them at any other time isn't good enough. The IRS has accepted deductions for theatrical costumes, hard hats and other safety gear. Among the items that do not qualify are overalls, white dress shirts, and bibs even if required on the job site. For example, even though your company requires you to wear a suit each day, you cannot deduct their cost since you can wear the suits to weddings, job interviews and other occasions that don't relate to work."

Thats from https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-too...Work-Clothes-As-a-Tax-Deduction/INF14390.html
 
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Someone commented on the gawker post saying they were previously allowed to wear any solid color pants that weren't jeans, so most of them will be fine as far as pants, but not everyone. Either way, I'd bitch if I had to buy polos for target. Makes the other 21 red tops a wasted expense and I obviously wouldn't buy just one shirt because then the expense (and time) gets shifted over to laundry. Honestly with my current hours, I wouldnt be able to really afford new shirts even at $7. Two checks from now I'll be able to pay bus fare, some bills, and I'm skipping rent, because my mom's probably not gonna evict me lol. And this week, she funded my laundry and I'm gonna beg her for another pair of beige skinnies... Or maybe I'll go boot cut to shake it up.

Idk. I'd just be so mad if I had to buy new clothes again for a job I already have. I accepted that burden when I applied knowing full well that I didn't own red or khaki, but now that I've built up a work wardrobe. I'd find it to be a hassle. Then on the occasion that I fucked up and had to buy a shirt at work, I'd be sol. Last few times I went to wally they didn't even have polos in store. (I go often. I love wm) but they have a plethora of $3 and $4 tee shirts.
 
So from this thread we have learned thanks to @Signkitty that the clothes they will be buying are not tax deductible, from @JuicedSoftball1 that they used to be able to wear regular clothes (actually a dress code) and from the links in @buliSBI original post that this was sprung on them without any warning so they haven't had any time to save up for the additional expense.







2
 
My mom used to work for an upscale retailer years ago....she was the equal in that Company to what a etl log is in spot. Anyways, they gave their employees a 15 % discount on anything in the store ( this is mostly a clothing/jewelry/home goods store) IF the clothes they were buying fit into the stores dress code policy ( and could be worn to work) they were given another 5% OFF. So for work clothes they would get a total of 20% off. I think Spot and wally world could offer a "bonus" discount on clothes that are to be worn at work.
 
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When I got hired at Spot, they gave me a free redcard shirt, the one with the big ass circle that says 5% off. I do know that a lot of Walmart workers don't wear shirts with a collar. So they would need to buy all new shirts. which at like 12$+ a shirt isn't so easy to get on short noticed.

If spot required flow to wear a collared shirt, i'd quit. they're too hot and ain't nobody got time for that
 
Honestly, I don't really see what the big deal is. You can easily find collared solid colored shirts at Goodwill and other thrift stores. If that's what your employer wants you to wear, then that's what you wear. It's not really asking that much, and the collar does look more professional. If Target started requiring us to wear collared shirts, I wouldn't mind that much. Nearly all of my non-collared shirts are made from thinner material and are full of holes over the belly, anyway, and need replacing.
 
My gripe about red/khaki is that Target's selection is very limited. I go to JCPenney for khakis and will pick up red shirts at most other stores; the t-shirts Target sells shrink down to nothing. You'd think they'd stock something guaranteed to sell, but maybe I'm just too picky.
 
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