PAP.7.8.130 Dress and Appearance

(a) Employees must dress and groom themselves in accordance with appropriate social and business standards. An employee's department head or director or the School Director retain the right to request any employee to change his or her mode of dress or grooming if deemed provocative or otherwise inappropriate. In addition, employees must maintain good personal hygiene.

(b) The School strives to ensure the comfort and safety of our employees and visitors by encouraging an environment to be free from smoke, fragrances, or unpleasant smells, notwithstanding subd. (6) below. These odors are distracting and may trigger allergic reactions or create health problems for sensitive individuals. This policy is meant to cover noticeable odors from any source, including foods, personal items, perfumes, and grooming. All employees must observe good habits of grooming and personal hygiene. Body odor, from any cause, should not create distractions. To accommodate sensitive individuals, employees are discouraged from:

(1) Wearing or applying excessive amounts of perfume, cologne, scented lotions, or body washes in the workplace;

(2) Using hairsprays, air freshener, or other scented products in the workplace; and eating or keeping fragrant foods or items at your desk.

(c) Given that sensitive individuals have widely varying degrees of reaction, it's difficult to guarantee a consistently comfortable and accommodating workplace. Still, the School desires to minimize the barriers and difficulties experienced in the workplace by employees and clients with chemical or fragrance sensitivities, notwithstanding subd. (6) below.

(d) Notwithstanding subd. (6) below, school scheduled meetings will be conducted in "fragrance-free" meeting rooms. Employees should be given advance notice of meetings so they can take appropriate steps to minimize fragrances.

(e) Department heads or directors shall provide feedback to employees to ensure compliance with this policy. If an employee is responsible for an unpleasant or distracting odor, a supervisor may ask the employee to leave the workplace until the problem is alleviated. If a problem arises due to a disability, the School will not discriminate against the individual because of their disability and will accommodate the individual unless it causes an undue hardship.

(f) Nothing in this policy shall be deemed to limit or interfere with the burning or other use of traditional medicines at traditional ceremonies and cultural functions.