Julie:   Okay. Great. And so then, Michael, if you could bring up our next poll question for us, please. So we're going to move on to a little bit of the weather and find out whether you have a dress code policy. "Is your dress code policy still fit for purpose with the increase in heat waves?" And I am aware of the irony saying this as it's overcast and windy where I am, and probably where you are too.

So do you have a dress code policy? Yep, everything is covered. So again, you aren't too concerned about that. Yes, but you think it could be reviewed. We're going to look a little bit about more uniforms, about those key temperatures, and how effective people can be in the workplace. Or no, we don't have a policy in place and don't think that we need one either.

So if you could take a moment and just let us know what you think. And again, remember, if you have any questions, drop them in the chat box.

And so, Michael, whenever you're ready, if you want to bring up the results for us. I know it takes a moment. Okay. So we've got half of our audience, nearly half, saying that they don't have one in place and they don't really require one. Some people are saying that yes, everything is covered, and yes, but it needs to be reviewed. So we're quite split over that.

Seamus will go through what we really had about dress code policies, because we were talking earlier on about how that's really changed over the last little while too.

So in particular with the hot weather, is there anything that employers should be aware of around things like temperatures when people are in the office and they're saying, "It's way too hot to work"? And again, even about the responsibilities of people working from home.

Seamus:  I mean, if we can remember back to last summer, we weren't as badly hit, but I can remember at one point it was hitting 40 degrees in London last summer. And I remember speaking with colleagues on the phone who had their curtains drawn for four or five days straight to try and keep the heat out of their homes and things like that whilst working from home as well. And the allure of maybe a nice air-conditioned office suddenly became very, very attractive.

Look, just recently there, I know that our weather this week and a bit of last week hasn't been great, but we were hitting sort of 26, 27 degrees. There's an element in offices where there's a natural heat that happens from all of the computers and the printers and all of that. And then just with having numbers in the office, again, there's a natural heat that happens. And then suddenly whenever it gets very warm like that, it can really cause difficulties.

So legally, the position is if you're working in rigorous physical effort in your job, the minimum legal temperature is at least 16 degrees or 13 degrees. So 16 degrees generally, 13 degrees if you're doing rigorous work.

But I'd say to that there's no number that is written down to say that if it gets too hot, you don't have to work, or if it hits 30 degrees, you don't have to work, or something along those lines.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations are from 1992. They place an obligation on employers to provide a reasonable working temperature in the office. But it's up to the employer to determine what that reasonable comfort might be in certain circumstances.

And then we have The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and it requires a suitable risk assessment to take place. I mean, I think in the majority of workplaces, there is an element of people being reasonable.

If you're working outside and it is very hot and you're doing rigorous work, employers might need to think about that there needs to be recourse for maybe shaded breaks, provision of sun cream, the ability to have cold drinking water. And a lot of that can also apply to very hot office spaces, or if you're working in a restaurant and you're working in the kitchen, it could be fairly unbearable in those sorts of temperatures.

So the unfortunate bit is that there isn't any kind of figure on the thermostat that we can say, "Oh, it's hit that temperature. Everybody out and down tools". And businesses, again, will have to work around their business needs.

So, the alternatives are that some of the practical steps that employers could take would really be to look at making the workplace more breathable and workable during those high temperatures. Maybe getting the doors opened up and then air circulating around. And sometimes that can just be hot, sticky air that doesn't really do anything. Making sure that there are appropriate breaks, that people can maybe get access to cold drinking water, if there's provision of fans, even some of those air conditioning units that can be brought in, or if sometimes the office has the benefit of air conditioning itself.

Those things can start problems and create issues with hot and coldness, and air conditioning being too cold and things like that. But really, I suppose it's about looking to try to get employees as comfortable as possible. And some of that element might be looking at if there's a requirement to wear a uniform, maybe a relaxation for a short period in relation to that also.

Julie:   All right. So it's interesting that you mentioned about the dress code. We've got people basically covering all the bases today in our poll. Some people say that they're well covered. Other people say that they may need to review it. So again, you'd mentioned about just relaxing it. Anything else you could add to that? I know that we've had airlines like Qantas and Virgin Airline, and they basically have created a range of uniform and then it's up to actual employees to individualise that. What do you think?

Seamus:  Yeah, I think that there are obvious issues around certain types of uniform that you have to wear. For instance, if you are in a job where you are at risk of something falling on you, you need to wear your hard hat, your PPE, your large yellow jacket that makes everybody aware, your clunky heavy shoes in case something falls on your foot. Some of that is just unavoidable for certain jobs that you're doing.

Sometimes, as well, employers can get a little caught up in forward-facing rules and presentation and making sure that uniforms are worn. And it's really great news that there has been this adaptability brought about in relation to uniforms, and maybe just not the same view that was taken in respect of the uniform as the uniform and the branding and the logo and all of that.

Uniforms are helpful for people in the sense that they don't have to purchase clothes to go to work in. Often the uniform is provided to them. And if there are variations or there's a relaxation to that because of extremely hot weather, I think everybody can understand that, including possibly your customers and your clients and things like that as well.

So I think where you can, you need to get that balance right and you do need to bear in mind the welfare of your employees. Ultimately, what you don't want is somebody gets sick or having to go home during their working day because of the fact that it's so hot and they're feeling sickly. So it's about that.

And if you're a really good employer, you can do nice things like maybe get lollipops in to try to cool everybody down, and maybe let people go out take a five-minute break to go out and stand outside if it's cooler outside, or things like that as well.

Julie:   Okay. And I think that I've seen on LinkedIn there are some employers that have had things like ice cream vans. Absolutely fantastic. So yeah, that's something I'm going to look for.

Seamus:  We can punt for that. Absolutely.

Julie:   Okay. So thanks very much, Seamus for that. That was a general overview just of temperatures and about making sure that employers have duty of care. And interestingly, you'd mentioned something when we were talking earlier about the Goldilocks syndrome as well, just about what happens in an office.

Seamus:  Yeah. I mean, it can be a real tricky one, particularly when there's air conditioning. Some people hate air conditioning and don't like it and will put a coat or a cardigan on, and others want it on all the time. So it can be tricky to get that balance right and find the temperature that suits everybody in relation to the workplace. So, it can create issues around.

Certainly, that has come across my desk recently about issues arising over air conditioning and people genuinely not liking it, feeling stuffed up, feeling that it damages their health, and all sorts of issues.

So yeah, I suppose it's a tricky one and a bit of a minefield if you can get maybe that magic number of 22 degrees or 21 degrees, whatever it is, and get things settled at it. But it can create issues as well whenever there is a running start-and-stop with the air conditioning button during the day as well.

Julie:   It is, or the person that has access to the temperature, the thermostat, and all those different aspects of it too.

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