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Yes. In general, employers are allowed to regulate their employees' appearance, as long as they do not end up discriminating against certain employees. It is very common, for example, for an employer to require his/her employees to wear a uniform so that all employees appear uniform.
No. Employers cannot single out or discriminate against a particular group of persons. Dress code policies must target all employees.
If your religion requires you to wear, or forbids you from wearing, certain clothing like wearing a hijab, a yarmulke, or not wearing pants, you may have some protection. Courts have held that employers have a legal obligation to reasonably accommodate their employees' religious beliefs so long as it does not impose a burden or undue hardship on the employer under Title VII. If your employer wants to lawfully prevent you from wearing certain clothing, it must show that allowing you to wear this clothing would pose an undue hardship on the business. While customer preference would rarely, if ever, meet the undue burden test, safety hazards often will.
"We need gender neutral dress codes in the workplace. Requiring men to wear suits and women to wear skirts or dresses, while legal, is based on gender stereotypes. No matter the level of formality your dress code needs to define, make sure you're thinking from the perspective of all employees—current as well as future—and creating an environment where they can thrive."
–Katherine Plumhoff | Power to Fly
from The Hive