The FINANCIAL — Business casual. Slacks, NO jeans, closed toe shoes. Always wear hosiery or socks. Jewellery is ok, but not too much, or too ostentatious. Hair clean and combed. If a male teller, wear a tie and a jacket if you have one, but at least a tie. Any visible tattoos on arms must be covered by shirt. Take out any visible body piercings. This is the dress code for almost all the banks in Georgia. But there are some exceptions. The FINANCIAL asked bank representatives to speak about their specific rules.
“We don’t ask our employees to wear luxury clothing brands. But they must wear correct and good looking clothes,” Tea Bokuchava, Quality, Standard and Communication Coordinator of HR Department, Bank Republic, told The FINANCIAL.
“Women can be dressed in middle of the range-costing clothes; brands like Mango and Zara. Our employees do not complain about our dress code. Their salary allows them to comply with our standards,” says Julia Enukishvili, HR Manager of BasisBank.
“New employees at BasisBank are provided with a special manual where we explain to them the main working rules. Dress code is included in our contracts. It’s obligatory for both men and women,” Enukishvili says.
“Employees of TBC Bank must wear clothes corresponding to the business environment. The rules are the same for front desk and back office workers, from Monday to Friday,” Tamuna Ramishvili, Head of Marketing of TBC Bank says.
“Our workers can wear more casual and relaxed clothing on Saturdays,” Ramishvili, TBC Bank says.
“Some banks make an exception for Saturdays, but in BasisBank we do not have such a practice,” Enukishvili, BasisBank, noted.
With a few slight differences the dress code in all Georgian banks is similar.
“We suggest what to wear and what is not allowed, because we know much more about the power of different colours,” says Enukishvili, BasisBank.
‘The company’s objective, in establishing a dress code, is to enable employees to project a professional, business-like image while experiencing the advantage of more casual and relaxed clothing. Business casual dress is the standard of this dress code,” says Bokuchava, Bank Republic.
Workers must follow a classic style. Ladies are not allowed to wear transparent, sparkling, motley clothes or décolleté. As for men white suits and jeans are not advised. Thick, knitted sweaters with ornaments and high throats are not allowed. White socks, shorts, narrow and coloured trousers are also against the rules,” Ramishvili explained.
“We pay great attention to the colours of shirt and chemises. Black is not allowed. All shirts and chemises must be in more light tones and suitable to black jackets,” Enukishvili says.
“All staff must wear classic shoes, with middle sized heels only. White shoes are an exception for women only,” noted Bokuchava.
“Ladies can wear jewellery, but a limited amount. Men can only wear watches and wedding rings. Women can use cosmetics, but they must be natural looking. Perfume must be light and delicate,” Ramishvili, TBC Bank, says.
“Front desk workers must follow all the rules very carefully, some exception is made for back office workers, but these exceptions are not very big anyway,” Enukishvili says.
“We have exceptions for pregnant employees. We allow them to wear more free clothes and lower heels, but still the style remains the same,” Bokuchava, Bank Republic, SocGen Group, says. “Ladies are allowed to wear short hair but it should look well-groomed”.
“It’s easier with men. They are not permitted to wear shirts. They can combine colours of suits, ties and shoes. It’s important that they must be shaved if they do not have a beard,” Enukishvili, BasisBank, declared.
Most banks’ workers wear special accessories with the company’s symbolic colour or logo on their ties or scarves.
“We thought of creating special scarves for our staff. Black and red are good colours and would suit our worker’s clothes,” Bokuchava, says.
“Front office workers of TBC Bank are obliged to wear the branded accessories of our bank. Men have ties and ladies have scarves and badges,” Ramishvili, TBC Bank, stated.
“Our workers have to wear identification badges, ties and scarves,” Enukishvili says.
“BasisBank was re-branded in 2007. Our scarves were two-toned. After the entrance of EBRD we decided to change the style of our ties and scarves. The colour has stayed the same, we just moved the white colour and changed sizes. So our workers can more easily combine one coloured tie with their clothes. We ordered about 700 scarves and ties from Italy,” Enukishvili, BasisBank, says.
“Dress code control is the responsibility of the directors of departments and branches. They have the right to comment on employees’ attire so that it complies with the Banks standards,” Enukishvili said.
According to worldwide etiquette office clothes include tights in summer. However Georgian Banks break this rule. From latest fashion tendencies ladies are allowed to wear shoes open at the toe and bolero jackets, Enukishvili said.
Written By Madona Gasanova
