What is Generally Meant by "No Tennis Shoes" in a Dress Code

Question

I'm starting a new job soon, and I got an email from HR about the dress code. They said that the dress code consists of blue jeans or any color khaki pants, a button down or polo shirt, and no tennis shoes. I'm kind of confused by what exactly that means, since that is the only thing they said about what type of shoe you can wear.

What does that generally mean in the context of a Work Dress Code? Does it mean I should only wear dress shoes, or is there something in particular that is wrong about sneakers / tennis shoes, and that wearing some sort of boot would also be good?

Are there any good ways to deal with this uncertainty?

Answer 1

The simple answer here is to be conservative on your first day (i.e. wear dress shoes) and see what everyone else wears. It may be that your entire team ignores this rule, or that certain colours are acceptable - or it could be that the CEO has a phobia of tennis shoes.

If you want to try something that no one else wears, that isn't against the letter of the rule (like cowboy boots or flip flops) ask your boss, not HR. Only ask HR if your boss doesn't want to make a decision and tells you to, because your boss wants you to be comfortable and productive while HR will worry about the worst case scenario.

Aim to be one of the smartest people in your team during your probationary period, after you're more secure you can relax a bit but avoid pushing the limits while your boss is deciding whether to keep you.

Answer 2

What is Meant by “No Tennis Shoes” in a Dress Code

Generally Tennis Shoes refers to athletic foot wear. I would recommend dress shoes (e.g. Oxfords for men) or dress boots (e.g. Chelsea Boots or Desert Boots for men). It depends on your profession, but I like to buy leather dress shoes that are also comfortable to walk and stand in. Black or brown colored shoes will be the versatile to start until you have enough savings to buy more. Though I typically only own one pair of a type of shoe at a time.

But if you continue to have questions, I would recommend you email the HR department if they have particular suggestions or have them sign off on a particular type of shoe.

Answer 3

I've seen this requirement in several contexts before. Typically it means one of three things when fully translated in context:

1. Athletic style shoes have a huge range of styles, many of which are not in keeping with what we believe is appropriate, so we have banned them.
2. Many styles of athletic footwear have a style of rubber sole that leaves marks on our (or our clients') floors, so we have banned them.
3. Our workplace has poor acoustic isolation, and many styles of athletic style shoes make a terrible noise when people move about, and it's entirely too distracting, so we banned them.

Without more information about your specific workplace, I can't really identify what else they might be worried about.

HR isn't necessarily telling you everything behind their decision, rather than providing you with what they believe is the simplest, most succinct requirement that (they think) covers their use case. And, as others have pointed out, the decision to call them tennis shoes is probably just something that got carried over from an older iteration of the dress code.

Answer 4

is there something in particular that is wrong about sneakers / tennis shoes

Yes, the company has decided they're not appropriate, so don't wear them to work.

Answer 5

There's no hidden meaning.

Does no tennis shoes mean that I should only wear dress shoes?

No. It means don't wear tennis shoes. If you need more clarification on what shoes are appropriate, ask HR. We can't answer this question for them.

Answer 6

I work with jeans, button down shirts and social shoes. The "no tennis shoe" rule seems perfectly reasonable to me.

While tennis shoes or maybe even sneakers can be generally fine, dress codes are all about drawing clear lines were lines can be very blurry, and if "tennis shoes" are allowed, then it's hard to point someone with over-the-top footwear that this is not adequate for the work environment, the same applies to ragged shoes.

Although a dedicated man can easily accomplish this intentionally, it is much harder for other kinds of work-friendly shoes to be unintentionally that much standing-off or that much damaged or dirty.

Keep in mind, that although answers like HenryM are legally correct and immensely funny, there is always an implicit "no assholes" rule for every workplace. So also don't be one by testing the limits of the system, especially if you are new around.

Answer 7

Depends on the job.

In a white collar role, it’s saying “Tennis shoes are too casual for our culture and look unprofessional.” As such, you should wear dress shoes.

In a blue collar role, it’s saying “Tennis shoes are unsafe because they lack toe protection.” As such, you should wear steel-capped boots.

In a role that might be a mix of both, such as an engineering role where you might be expected to visit a factory, it would probably be best to wear the steel cap boots or steel-toed work shoes for safety’s sake - and since manufacturers produce steel-toed work shoes in a wide variety of styles, some of which appear very similar to dress shoes.

Answer 8

If you're uncertain about what a workplace policy means, the best option is always to simply ask for clarification. Your direct manager is usually the person you should ask first - your workplace is the only place that understands what their own internal policies mean. You will not get a better answer from anyone on the internet because nobody here knows anything about your workplace or their policies.

Another great resource is your co-workers - if you don't want to bother your manager, just ask around informally about how things normally work. The people who have been there any amount of time will certainly be able to familiarize you with the workplace culture.

It's not like you're going to get fired for asking about what shoes you can wear to the office.

Answer 9

It sounds to me like what they're describing is "smart casual." I've seen this this defined as "business casual" but you're also allowed to wear jeans. (I wouldn't necessarily recommend following examples on Google images because the examples look more casual than what I would think is okay for work.) As everyone said, just be conservative on your first day and see what your teammates and manager do. You can even ask them about it. In many places the HR rules are more like guidelines but it's impossible to know if that is the case for your new job until you see for yourself.

Also, you could email the HR person, your recruiter, or future manager to ask for clarification. Everyone here (including myself) is just guessing. They're good guesses, but we can't know for sure.