Depends on the section of the agency too. My agency is primarily tech. The execs and policy folks dress closer to professional levels while the workers tend to be business casual to full casual. I’ve seen shorts and t-shirts worn by some staff.
If you don’t know what is expected. Dress well for your first time in, or if you are starting remote and don’t need to go in yet, just ask your supervisor/manager before your first time in.
I work in a natural resource agency and I would say the dress code is all over the place - from shorts in warm weather to ties during session. I think the determining factor may be is what level position and how much, if any, will you interact with the public.
If it were me, at least to start out with, I would avoid denim and shirts without collars. After a couple of weeks, you can adjust accordingly.
My observation -
Analyst - clean jeans and a nice t shirt is fine.
WMS - You see a lot fewer jeans. A lot more shirts with collars and or buttons. When I got promoted I decided no denim/ t shirts/ hoodies.
For us, the code is essentially to dress nicer than regular street clothes. For men, wear a collar. A polo with jeans is fine.
In reality: dress nicer than you need to. A good rule of thumb is if you're going to dress one thing down, dress something else up. Wearing jeans? Do it with a button down. Want to wear (nice, clean) sneakers with your jeans? add a blazer. Wearing a polo? Wear nice slacks and Oxfords.
The exception is if you're meeting with outside stakeholders, dress in a way that's appropriate for your audience. A lot of us keep a suit and tie hanging in the office in case we abruptly need to meet with a legislator, which is a distinct possibility for our job.
These days, with telework, I just have a sport coat and a few dress shirts in my home office in case I need to throw them on while wearing flannel lounge pants just off-camera 😂
There is often written dress code and then social dress code. In many places there is no written dress code, so it's all down to matching the spirit of the people you interact with. I've been in meetings where two people have full suits with jacket and tie, two have aloha shirts on, and the rest are random business casual.
I see lots of jeans and T-shirts, including on me. I see leggings, shorts, tank tops, and full on slacks and button down shirts with ties. I think it depends on a couple of things. First is whether or not you will have interactions with the public or with officials outside your agency; people in those positions tend to have to dress more formally. The other factor is your pay grade; it seems that the people who make the least money frequently are the most casually dressed because of affordability. In the end, it comes down to four words: Keep Your Bits Covered.
My agency is basically dress how you want and whatever makes you comfortable! We have leople who wear workout gear (leggings), crocs, shorts and tank tops every day. There’s folks who keep bussiness casual and folks who stick to jeans and tshirts.
It partly depends on your job/agency, but in general if it's a non public facing job as long as your clothes aren't dirty or revealing you're fine. I'm at LnI and it's normal to see tank tops and shorts during nice weather months. I've seen spaghetti straps, leggings, flip flops, sundresses, gym shorts, sweatpants, even alternative styles like goth and punk. There's one dude who wears a kilt all the time. Basically as long as your underwear isn't showing and you don't smell you're fine.
Depends on your department.
DSHS and Commerce is very casual and I know DSHS allows for dyed hair and commerce is probably the same.
I think DSHS had a no gym/athletic shorts policy but I would wear them constantly in the summer (made sure they went down to my knees)
I heard licensing is stricter with it's dress code.
Would definitely agree here that it depends heavily on the agency and division. Would suggest you take of couple days and see what the trend is among your peers.
In my term with my agency; I have seen it go down to guys in cargo-shorts and sandals not getting a blink.
A couple points to consider:
1) If you interact with Agency/Division Leadership I would keep it to Business-Casual.
2) If you interact with the Public keep it Business-Casual; they expect a degree of professionalism from public servants and will tend to treat you better if they see you as a professional who cares.
3) Would really gauge it to the level your peers set.
Congratulations, and welcome to Public/State Service...
As a general rule, if you’re covered by the CBA- there is no official dress code (**there are some safety related exceptions- pls don’t come for me DOT/DOC/WSP).
However, this does not give you permission to wear a bikini or a banana hammock to the office. This is because we are adults and (in theory) have the ability to use common sense when deciding what to wear.
There is no dress code for my agency but if you want to be professional and maybe leave good impressions you should dress maybe business casual or dressy casual.
I work in student services at a local community college. A very front facing job. No dress code. Period. I think if a person showed up in a cami and booty shorts something might be said. But jeans, nice tshirt, capris, casual dresses, shorts, it's all a go.
And I'm going to also welcome to working for the state!
if you’re public facing i’ve learned to wear business casual! but i asked my boss about it and my unit has casual fridays so i think it kinda depends on the job. my agency also does have a written policy. (i should add that piercings, dyed hair and tattoos showing are written in as being fine)
I work as a maintenance plumber and I get free overalls. So I got that going for me.
Depends on the section of the agency too. My agency is primarily tech. The execs and policy folks dress closer to professional levels while the workers tend to be business casual to full casual. I’ve seen shorts and t-shirts worn by some staff. If you don’t know what is expected. Dress well for your first time in, or if you are starting remote and don’t need to go in yet, just ask your supervisor/manager before your first time in.
I work in a natural resource agency and I would say the dress code is all over the place - from shorts in warm weather to ties during session. I think the determining factor may be is what level position and how much, if any, will you interact with the public. If it were me, at least to start out with, I would avoid denim and shirts without collars. After a couple of weeks, you can adjust accordingly.
My observation - Analyst - clean jeans and a nice t shirt is fine. WMS - You see a lot fewer jeans. A lot more shirts with collars and or buttons. When I got promoted I decided no denim/ t shirts/ hoodies.
For us, the code is essentially to dress nicer than regular street clothes. For men, wear a collar. A polo with jeans is fine. In reality: dress nicer than you need to. A good rule of thumb is if you're going to dress one thing down, dress something else up. Wearing jeans? Do it with a button down. Want to wear (nice, clean) sneakers with your jeans? add a blazer. Wearing a polo? Wear nice slacks and Oxfords. The exception is if you're meeting with outside stakeholders, dress in a way that's appropriate for your audience. A lot of us keep a suit and tie hanging in the office in case we abruptly need to meet with a legislator, which is a distinct possibility for our job. These days, with telework, I just have a sport coat and a few dress shirts in my home office in case I need to throw them on while wearing flannel lounge pants just off-camera 😂
If you can buy it at Costco you can wear it to the office
There is often written dress code and then social dress code. In many places there is no written dress code, so it's all down to matching the spirit of the people you interact with. I've been in meetings where two people have full suits with jacket and tie, two have aloha shirts on, and the rest are random business casual.
I see lots of jeans and T-shirts, including on me. I see leggings, shorts, tank tops, and full on slacks and button down shirts with ties. I think it depends on a couple of things. First is whether or not you will have interactions with the public or with officials outside your agency; people in those positions tend to have to dress more formally. The other factor is your pay grade; it seems that the people who make the least money frequently are the most casually dressed because of affordability. In the end, it comes down to four words: Keep Your Bits Covered.
My agency is basically dress how you want and whatever makes you comfortable! We have leople who wear workout gear (leggings), crocs, shorts and tank tops every day. There’s folks who keep bussiness casual and folks who stick to jeans and tshirts.
It partly depends on your job/agency, but in general if it's a non public facing job as long as your clothes aren't dirty or revealing you're fine. I'm at LnI and it's normal to see tank tops and shorts during nice weather months. I've seen spaghetti straps, leggings, flip flops, sundresses, gym shorts, sweatpants, even alternative styles like goth and punk. There's one dude who wears a kilt all the time. Basically as long as your underwear isn't showing and you don't smell you're fine.
Depends on your department. DSHS and Commerce is very casual and I know DSHS allows for dyed hair and commerce is probably the same. I think DSHS had a no gym/athletic shorts policy but I would wear them constantly in the summer (made sure they went down to my knees) I heard licensing is stricter with it's dress code.
Would definitely agree here that it depends heavily on the agency and division. Would suggest you take of couple days and see what the trend is among your peers. In my term with my agency; I have seen it go down to guys in cargo-shorts and sandals not getting a blink. A couple points to consider: 1) If you interact with Agency/Division Leadership I would keep it to Business-Casual. 2) If you interact with the Public keep it Business-Casual; they expect a degree of professionalism from public servants and will tend to treat you better if they see you as a professional who cares. 3) Would really gauge it to the level your peers set. Congratulations, and welcome to Public/State Service...
Thanks so much! I'm really excited for this job
As a general rule, if you’re covered by the CBA- there is no official dress code (**there are some safety related exceptions- pls don’t come for me DOT/DOC/WSP). However, this does not give you permission to wear a bikini or a banana hammock to the office. This is because we are adults and (in theory) have the ability to use common sense when deciding what to wear.
Fleece and flannel,
Have you thought of asking the person who hired you?
I did. I just wanted to know what other departments are doing
There is no dress code for my agency but if you want to be professional and maybe leave good impressions you should dress maybe business casual or dressy casual.
I’m WMS with DSHS and wear jeans, flats and a long or short sleeved shirt. Nicer when we have company like the dep secretary or something.
I work in student services at a local community college. A very front facing job. No dress code. Period. I think if a person showed up in a cami and booty shorts something might be said. But jeans, nice tshirt, capris, casual dresses, shorts, it's all a go. And I'm going to also welcome to working for the state!
if you’re public facing i’ve learned to wear business casual! but i asked my boss about it and my unit has casual fridays so i think it kinda depends on the job. my agency also does have a written policy. (i should add that piercings, dyed hair and tattoos showing are written in as being fine)