Workwear ought to be simple.
People come to work. They need something suitable to wear. You provide it, put your brand on it and get on with running the business.
Except somewhere along the way, workwear has collected an impressive number of myths, assumptions and bits of received wisdom.
“It creates a tax problem.”
“Staff would rather wear their own clothes.”
“The cheap stuff will do.”
“Just give everyone a couple of polos.”
Some contain a grain of truth. Some depend entirely on the circumstances. And some are simply wrong.
So, rather than flogging you another polo shirt, let's tackle ten of the common ones.
Myth 1: “If I provide branded workwear, my employees will get taxed on it.”
Verdict: Mostly myth.
This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions around employer-provided clothing.
HMRC distinguishes between qualifying uniforms and protective clothing, and ordinary everyday clothing provided by an employer.
Most qualifying uniforms and protective clothing are exempt from tax and National Insurance. The important bit is establishing whether what you're providing genuinely qualifies as uniform or protective clothing.
That means there's a difference between providing identifiable company uniform and simply buying an employee some ordinary clothes they could equally wear down the pub on Saturday.
So don't automatically assume providing your team with workwear means handing them an unexpected tax bill.
And, as with anything involving tax, get proper advice where your particular circumstances aren't straightforward.
Myth 2: “Putting a logo on anything automatically makes it a uniform.”
Verdict: Not quite.
This is where the opposite myth starts.
HMRC's guidance says permanently adding a conspicuous company badge to otherwise ordinary clothing may be sufficient to make it a uniform – but each case has to be considered on its merits.
The important test is whether someone seeing the employee would readily recognise that person as wearing a uniform.
A tiny label hidden inside a garment isn't the same thing. Neither is simply asking everyone to wear a particular colour.
So branding can be important, but don't assume sticking a little logo somewhere automatically turns any item of clothing into qualifying uniform.
Myth 3: “Staff prefer wearing their own clothes.”
Verdict: They quite possibly do.
Let's be fair.
If the alternative is a badly fitting, sweaty, cheap polo shirt in a colour nobody likes, who wouldn't?
But the question for an employer is slightly different.
What is most appropriate for the workplace?
Properly selected workwear can give employees clothing appropriate to what they actually do, save wear and tear on their own clothes and create a consistent professional appearance.
And decent modern workwear shouldn't feel like punishment.
Fit, fabric weight, stretch, breathability, garment construction and male and female fits have moved on considerably.
If your employees hate wearing your workwear, perhaps the problem isn't workwear.
Perhaps it's your workwear.
Myth 4: “Workwear is just a polo shirt with a logo on it.”
Verdict: Absolutely not.
What does the person actually do all day?
That's where selecting workwear should start.
Someone working machinery has different requirements from somebody picking and packing in a warehouse.
Someone regularly working outside has different requirements from someone working on an assembly bench.
A maintenance engineer crawling around equipment doesn't necessarily need the same trousers as the production manager showing customers around the factory.
Think about:
- temperature and working environment
- movement and stretch
- durability and abrasion
- pockets and storage
- garment weight
- breathability
- layering
- washing frequency
- visibility
- interaction with PPE
- customer-facing responsibilities
Start with the job, then select the garment.
Not the other way around.
Myth 5: “Buying cheaper workwear saves money.”
Verdict: Only if it lasts.
A £9 polo is cheaper than a £15 polo.
Obviously.
But if the £9 garment looks tired after six months while the £15 one remains presentable considerably longer, which one was actually cheaper?
Workwear purchasing shouldn't simply be about cost per garment.
Consider cost over its useful life.
Every premature replacement also potentially means another garment to order, decorate, receive, administer and issue.
We're certainly not suggesting every business needs the most expensive garment available. That's just as daft.
The objective is finding the appropriate balance between purchase price, performance and expected lifespan.
Cheap and good value aren't necessarily the same thing.
Myth 6: “One range will suit everybody.”
Verdict: Have you met everybody?
Human beings rather inconveniently come in different shapes and sizes.
Simply finding a garment available from XS to 5XL doesn't mean you've developed a good workwear range.
Different body shapes, male and female fits, different jobs and different working environments all matter.
Nor does everybody necessarily need identical clothing.
A consistent company identity can run across complementary garments selected for different roles.
Your production team, warehouse, drivers, engineers and customer-facing employees can look like they belong to the same business without everybody being dressed identically.
Uniformity doesn't have to mean one uniform.
Myth 7: “Workwear and PPE are basically the same thing.”
Verdict: No – and this distinction matters.
A branded sweatshirt is workwear.
Safety equipment required to protect somebody against a workplace risk is another matter.
Where risks cannot adequately be controlled by other means and PPE is required, employers have specific legal responsibilities around selecting and providing suitable PPE.
That can include things such as safety footwear, eye protection, gloves, helmets, high-visibility protective equipment and other items depending upon the risk and workplace.
Workwear can certainly be designed to work alongside PPE, but putting your logo on something doesn't magically make it PPE.
And buying something described as “workwear” doesn't automatically mean it provides a particular form of protection.
Understand the job. Understand the risk. Then specify appropriately.
Myth 8: “Employees can just buy their own PPE.”
Verdict: Not if it's PPE they're required to use for work.
This is an important one.
Where PPE is required because of workplace risks, employers have legal responsibilities to provide suitable PPE.
The Health and Safety Executive is also clear that workers cannot be charged for PPE which is required and used for work.
So an employer shouldn't simply tell someone to nip out and buy their own required PPE at their own expense.
There are also responsibilities beyond merely buying it: appropriate selection, availability, use, maintenance and training can all matter.
PPE isn't just another line on the clothing order.
Myth 9: “If employees wash their own uniform, that's just their problem.”
Verdict: There's more to it than that.
Here's one quite a few employees – and employers – don't know.
Employees who have to clean, repair or replace qualifying uniform or specialist work clothing themselves may be able to claim tax relief on eligible costs.
HMRC operates agreed flat-rate expenses for some occupations and industries. Where the relevant conditions are met and no nationally agreed rate applies, HMRC's guidance currently gives £60 per year as a reasonable estimate for qualifying laundry costs.
That doesn't mean everyone wearing a company polo can automatically claim £60.
Everyday clothing doesn't suddenly qualify simply because someone happens to wear it at work, and employees can't claim where an employer provides a free laundry service which they simply choose not to use.
But it is another example of why the tax position around workwear isn't quite as simple as some workplace folklore suggests.
Myth 10: “Workwear is just another expense.”
Verdict: Well... yes.
Of course it costs money.
So does heating the factory.
So does servicing the forklift.
So does insurance.
The sensible question isn't whether workwear costs something.
It's what are you getting for that money?
For some businesses, a comprehensive uniform programme would be completely unnecessary.
For others, appropriate workwear can help create a consistent appearance, identify employees, protect people's own clothing, provide garments more appropriate for particular jobs and make the business look more professional when customers, suppliers and prospective employees walk through the door.
And your people are part of your brand whether you consciously dress them that way or not.
The bloke arriving at a customer's premises in your van represents your business.
The engineer meeting a visitor represents your business.
The production team somebody sees during a factory tour represents your business.
Workwear isn't going to transform a badly run company into a brilliant one.
But how your people turn up says something about how seriously you take what you do.
So, do you actually need branded workwear?
Maybe.
We're a workwear company, so perhaps that's not the answer you expected.
But throwing embroidered clothing at people simply because somebody decided “we ought to have uniforms” isn't how we'd approach it.
Start somewhere else:
Who is wearing it?
What are they doing?
Where are they working?
What does the garment need to cope with?
How frequently will it be worn and washed?
How should your people represent the business?
And what do you actually need the clothing to achieve?
Answer those first.
Then we can talk about the clothes.
This article provides general information about workwear, tax and PPE and isn't tax, accounting, employment or health and safety advice. Individual circumstances vary, so businesses should take appropriate professional advice where required.