20 May 2006

Immigration's New Dress Code

| Pandy
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As reported in todays CT.

The reason that they are bring in a dress code is nothing to do with a staff survey that did not have a question about attire. The reason is that the new honchos mostly come from Centrelink where they have had a dress code since 1999. They are cloning themselves. There was a perception that people wearing jeans were not projecting themselves as professionals.

Anyway the dress code is not a draft: It is due to be launched with great fanfare on 1st of June.

What is stupid, is that men cannot wear polo shirts, you know with a collar. Try getting through you day installing IT equipment wearing (optional -yeah right) a tie. Come to think of it, I plan to wear my classic 1960s rocket engineer attire of short sleeved white shirt, black tie, pocket protector and horn rimmed galsses. Oh I also plan to wear my ugg boots.

UPDATED: The ABC has picked up the story.

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this is for ABSENT DIANA – are you going through menapause or something?? What type of person works for people they consider ‘criminals’? heres a novel idea – GO WORK SOMEWHERE ELSE !!!!!

that’s ok AD, I wasn’t either – it’s just well it had to be said in a polite manner.

Absent Diane2:43 pm 23 May 06

Im not going to push the line on the pearl comments

They’re not pearls: they’re the teeth out of all her victims!

I’m of the view that pearls should always be optional…

Her forearms are nearly bigger than my thighs!

Absent Diane2:25 pm 22 May 06

fuck she’s hot

Well is this appropriate dress for chicky babes working in IMMI?

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/08/02/amanda_vanstone_wideweb__430x276.jpg

Absent Diane1:21 pm 22 May 06

its ok.. my attire already fit in.. .except my friday clothing…..

AD = junkmayle true true… but if I had the chance to wear fishnets a short skirt and a mohawk at work that would be great…. I get to in my other job

AD – should probably clarify afain that you are a HE not a SHE. Bad luck about the uniform too buddy.

Personally I would welcome uniforms for a variey of reasons;
1 – No awkward same shirt and/or tie moments with colleagues you don’t like.
2 – Subsidised clothing – hey I’m not complain about that. That is under the proviso that these will actually be subsidised…
3 – Less decision making in the morning –
when somebody else can do the thinking before 8.00am I’ll let them.
4 – Claim extras on tax – and don’t foregt to try and extort as much as possible out of them for it. If the Federales want you to look like part of the team – they’ll have to pay for it one way or another.

dearie me, surely its not such a big deal this dress Code – DIMIA is an important place, with staff taking responsibility for monumentus decisions affecting others. Im sure there would be a lot of understanding if you were to point out, on the instance of it coming up, that your work is very valuable, whilst discussions about your attire are less productive, and shove foolish manager-type down elevator shaft.
Actually I think all DIMIA staff should be forced to wear prison orange.

As fasr It work goes. Wear a shirt with no tie. Regardless of what the dress code is, it is actually against serfchoices for IT and tech. stff to wear clothing that can be caught up on cables, clips etc.

Or wear a jumper over your tie.

Absent Diane10:58 am 22 May 06

Its often the people that don’t do what they are told that are often the best workers or at least the most succesful in getting outcomes… its sounds disgustingly cliched… the dangerous rebel/maverick blah blah blah.. but its true from what I have seen.. you just have to look at all the great thinkers of known history…

The robots that do what they are told tend to get caught up in process. and for some reason get rewarded for achieving fuck all but doing it an uncontroversial manner..

when it comes down to it I personally don’t care, because i normally do whatever the fuck I want anyway… I just enjoy getting angry at injustices regarding the designs of things that we wrap around our body to keep us protected from elements.

everything is ridiculous

I was at Centrelink when they brought in the dress code. I didn’t fancy walking into Burnie Courts (I was doing fraud investigation) in a uniform emblazoned with the Centrelink logo. Never mind being told to wear poor quality sweatshop-produced clothing.

Uniform sounds fine – as long as it hugs the right curves, everyone is wearing a keppie hat and long black boots.

Take comfort, apparently some fed govt dept’s are discussing cracking down on minions who wear ‘inappropriate’ outfits on the way to work and then change into ‘uniform’ on arrival ie. no gym gear or power walking lycros!

Personally, I think that the Government should see what can be done to ban low-cut pants across the board. What is with the wanton display of feminine ‘plumber’s crack’ that seems to pervade modern womens-wear?

This one’s easy – dress how you want people to judge you when they meet you, because that is exactly what happens, right or wrong. If you look professional (whether that’s suit or slacks and logo-ed polo shirt) then when people meet you that’s how they will perceive you.
I know many people that dress like it’s Sunday evening at home when at the office, and hey, it’s fine with me, but don’t complain when people don’t treat you how you wish to be treated.

What was that stuff the Palmer report was saying about process rich and outcome poor?

I’m sure that Cornelia Rau, Vivian Solon and the 5 people that lost their lives in the torres strait because Amanda “Jabba the Hutt” Vanstone and her cronies couldn’t organise a fuck in a brothel will be happy that DIMA is focusing on the BIG issues.

Just ignore the job and focus on the damn dress code.

When the work isn’t done because people are quitting due to an archaic need to make everyone look the same – i.e. PS cloning – then something is wrong.

Bugger the dress code. Most people do have brains and do know the difference between work wear and piss-up wear.

Why don’t people simply do what they’re told? Is it that hard. If your management tells you that there is a dress code then you abide by it. If you don’t like it then quit. Sure there might be bigger issues in the wind but until your position in the organisation is such that you can direct the dress code then they aren’t your problem.

Its all about appearing professional. You may be the best pube in the world but if you dress like a clown you’ll be treated accordingly.

I will still wear jeans on a Friday. And I will still use my “Your rights at work” cup AT WORK. I am not going to pretend I am not a member of the union. They don’t pay me enough.

Geez, not happy that Riot Act is the first place I hear about this!

I don’t mind for the fact that it will stop all the shorts and t-shirt brigade, but polos and jean? Considering we have a whole bunch of branded polos distributed every bloody year, it seems a touch stupid.

Although it is good to see they are addressing the big issues out of the staff survey… like the bunch of fuckmuppets we have in certain executive positions

You can still dress professionally without wearing a suit.

Just because Centrelink staff wear them doesn’t mean they actually do their job any better.

It’s like any Govt dept. They focus on the BS and not the major issues.

Here’s a thought, instead of wasting time on a bloody dress code, they should be focusing on what they’re actually paid to do….immigration for starters.

“Tough talk but I’ll you’ll still be holding your hand out for the next pay cheque. I’ll bet you weren’t as forthcoming in the interview.”

AD can dress however she likes, hell she can walk in with fishnet stockings and a mohawk for all I care. If she does her job effectively (which I assume she does) then who gives a f*&% what she wears?

“i work for these pig fucking criminals…….”

Tough talk but I’ll you’ll still be holding your hand out for the next pay cheque. I’ll bet you weren’t as forthcoming in the interview. You would probably perform better if you worked for an organisation you didn’t hold in contempt.

I’m sick of seeing people come to work looking like they couldn’t give a stuff – the dress code is designed to kerb the worse cases of contempt. The public deserve a professional looking (at least) public service.

Well, some arseholes in the upper echelons of Immigration are obviously not busy enough if implementing a dress code is their biggest plan at the moment.

I’m sure Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon will be happy that polo shirts and jeans are out!

Absent Diane3:31 pm 20 May 06

I personally dress in a suit… but if I want the option to wear what i want… I certainly fucking will…. man where is ben lee when you wanna beat the fuck out of someone…

Absent Diane3:22 pm 20 May 06

i work for these pig fucking criminals……. expect a riotous attitude from at least one worker….

what, no cardie?

Slinky the Shocker12:03 pm 20 May 06

Plus, I am worried. As an immigrant who doesn’t have citizenship yet, I occasionally have to deal with DIMIA. I’d much rather deal with happy immigration officials that can wear whatever they want than with grumpy ones 😉
But seriously, last time I dropped by their counter in Braddon, I actually enjoyed a friendly, reasonably casual atmosphere in there. Who cares what they are wearing?

Go to work looking like Michael Douglas in Falling Down. See how that goes.

Slinky the Shocker12:00 pm 20 May 06

Waiting for Absent Diane’s comment on this 😉

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