Walmart just made a change that employees have been demanding for years
- Walmart is testing a new dress code that allows employees to wear blue denim and shirts of any solid color.
- Employees were previously banned from wearing blue denim, and shirt colors were restricted to blue and white.
- "I personally love the new dress code - especially that we can wear any color," Angel Hernandez, an employee of a Walmart store in Springdale, Arkansas, told Business Insider.
- The company faced backlash four years ago when it enforced a new dress code. It later relaxed those restrictions.
Walmart is testing a new employee dress code in some stores to give workers more freedom over their clothing choices.
The updated clothing guidelines, which were implemented in several stores last week, allow employees to wear blue "jeggings" and blue jeans - which were previously forbidden for most Walmart workers - and shirts of any solid color, according to a Walmart manual reviewed by Business Insider. Until last week, solid white and solid blue were the only acceptable shirt colors in Walmart's dress code.
"I personally love the new dress code - especially that we can wear any color," Angel Hernandez, an employee of a Walmart store in Springdale, Arkansas, told Business Insider.
He said if the test goes well, then the new dress code will be rolled out to every Walmart store.
Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg said in an emailed statement that the company "won't know next steps on this test until we've had a chance to learn what works and what could work better." Bloomberg's Matthew Boyle first reported on the dress code changes.
Walmart employees have been asking for a more flexible dress code for years.
The company faced backlash four years ago when it enforced a new dress code requiring white or navy collared shirts with khaki or black pants, close-toed shoes, and an updated royal blue Wal-Mart-branded vest.
Walmart later loosened the requirements to allow employees to wear black or khaki-colored denim, as well as enable those working in the back of the store and doing more physical labor - like unloading trucks - to wear blue jeans.
According to the Walmart manual, the dress code bans the following items: leggings, yoga pants, windsuits, sweatpants, scrubs, spandex pants, overalls, or overly long pant legs that drag on the floor.
Leather, prints, distressed materials, patches, white stitching, and bedazzled clothing are also all prohibited.
Facial tattoos are not permitted, but tattoos elsewhere on the body are allowed as long as they don't contain obscene, racist, sexual, or other offensive words or imagery.
Overall, the company requires that employees' clothing fits properly and is free from holes, fraying, and stains.
"Good personal hygiene is expected when you report for work," the manual says. "Your hair must be clean and well groomed. Beards and mustaches must be neat and trimmed."
