What were the rules when you started work?

[QuickGuide]

I worked in a bank from 1988. For men shirts must always be white, socks must never be white. For women, no open toed shoes and tights at all times.

But you were allowed to smoke at the counter whilst serving customers 😆

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
Your window-opening colleague was a genius!

In 1995 i was 19 and a new receptionist at a small software company; Nigel was a sexist 40 year old programmer.

Of course I got to work one day to find a sexy fireman pull out on the wall & 'Arianah is a virgin' as a screensaver... but I was smarter than Nigel.

I simply deleted the screensaver off my screen, wrote 'Nigel has a small dick' on his screen AND password protected it (take that, Nigel); kept the admittedly hot fireman pic & hid his Playboy calendar.

Actually it was a fun place to work for my first full time job as everyone was a good laugh.

There was no dress code but I tried to dress smartly in a blouse or top & skirt or tailored trousers as I was the receptionist after all.
One Christmas the boss paid for us to all take a partner or friend to an expensive coastal hotel, stay the night, have a dinner & disco & binge drink! It was great.

The software company worked a lot for BP.
I remember the Dutch rep of BP Holland arriving, much hilarity from NIgel ensued as the reps name was, unbelievably, Cock.
He was wearing a black leather waistcoat & trousers when he arrived!

My favourite BP rep was from Langley.

Mr Haddaway was actually the cousin of Haddaway the eponymous American singer who had recently been a one hit wonder.
The rep had a brand new Vauxhall Astra GTE which I thought was amazing at 19 & we both loved drum n bass so we would sit in his car and... listen to new drum n bass releases. It could've been a match made in heaven but he was married and a real gentleman. He was always smartly dressed in something pinstriped.

Great thread!

Worked for local government department in 70’s. The manager sat at the front on an elevated platform facing us and eyeballed anyone chatting to a colleague, even if they were talking about work! It was like being back at school.

We all trooped off mid morning and mid afternoon to have our breaks in the staff kitchen where we would be served by the tea-lady.

Because there was no electronic mail, a member of staff from the post room delivered handwritten memos at regular intervals throughout the day.

When I first started working there, I was warned about the departmental (married) letch who would offer lifts home to all the young females. True to form he did and I accepted to see what would happen. He kept trying to put his hand on my knee and I kept swiping it away!

Then I worked as an admin assistant at a laboratory in a paint factory in 1999 - 2000.
I was in heaven as the only woman in the factory building among 100 or so men.
Before the new manager started I just wore my usual 'smart' blouse & trousers combo.
But he introduced health and safety to the factory. It was probably a good thing as there had been some stupid accidents.
So my new uniform was white logo tshirt, logo fleece, trousers, & to my disgust as a shallow 23 yr old, steel toe cap boots that were really hard to walk in.
What the new manager couldn't stop was the drugs. I mean they were everywhere. You could get sorted out for anything there.

I was heavily into clubbing then.
At the Christmas party at a hotel some lads had rooms; I got drunk then stoned plus there was MDMA laid out in one room.
I flirted a lot but and even went a date with one lad but was careful not to sleep with anyone - one woman from the design office did sleep with a lad at the factory and everyone called her a slag (total double standards but that's how it was).
The factory is owned by different people now but I know some of the guys still work there.. I wonder how much things have changed??!

Circa 2000, there was a smokers staff room and a non-smoking staffroom.

I can still remember the divide amongst the staff

1986 a new job in Telesales. There was already somebody in the Telesales team with my first name, so I had to change mine! For 2 years everybody knew me by my sisters name!

I just remembered one. It was a relatively small law firm about 100 lawyers. You could not have a married couple working in the same firm. One half of the couple (usually the woman) would have to leave the firm. Lord knows how they dealt with affairs between lawyers.

Started first full time job in 2002. Even though we were well into the digital age by then, didn’t use emails, still memos that were circulated and initiated by person to person through a pigeonhole system. By the time the info arrived for you, it was sometimes not relevant anymore! Suit jacket worn at all times by men and women.

I studied business administration in the late 90s. We were told to wear a long skirt to a job interview in case you had a man interviewing you that didn’t like trousers, or a woman who didn’t like you in a short skirt. I was a little confused when at my first interview a woman in a short skirt interviewed me. I didn’t even work in an office where it mattered if you wore a long/short skirt or trousers.

First job was in retail mid 90's. No visible tattoos, no piercings other than ears, no unnatural hair colours. Trousers were a no no. Blouses, knee length skirts, 15 denier tan or black tights and enclosed court shoes were mandatory. After an 8 hour shift I was always glad to get home to get my shoes off. We had a smoking staff room with yellow walls and a constant fog inside.

My Mum started work in the late 50’s.
“There was none of this sexual harassment nonsense in my day, you learned quickly enough who not to go into the stationary cupboard with!”

Big 5 accountants and we had a dress code.

Ladies weren’t allowed bare legs or shoulders showing. Tights had to be black, blue or nude. Barbour jackets and similar weren’t permitted for anyone visiting clients. Open toe shoes were not permitted. Suits had to be neutral and no novelty ties. There were other things but I can’t remember it all. This was late 80s early 90s.

We were allowed to smoke at our desks.

When we moved to a new building there was a smoking room built.

On Valentine’s Day the ladies got a red rose. Then men got a whisky.

I’m just coming back to smoking at our desks. Before we moved into a new office, we were in an old building and there were 4 of us in one room. 3 of us smoked and one lady didn’t. She was pregnant and we were all puffing away. Horrendous when you look back.

Massive hair, bigger than an MN salad

that made me snort @Vitriolinsanity 😂

I worked in a bar at uni and drinking was encouraged while working.

My first office job wasn't actually all that different to how things are now except there really wasn't any WFH

When I started bar work in the 1970s the boss tried to get me to wear a skirt - no way!

There were six of us, only one of who, was a non-smoker. We let her sit next to the window, so that was all right 😊

I was openly told I would not be considered for a job in a handbag shop, because I used a wheelchair. This was 2003

I'm so sorry, @BigFishontheTelly. What did you do?

Nothing, I was only young. It was the first time someone had said anything like that to me and I just sort of froze in shock.

I did get a job in another shop a couple of weeks later.

First teaching job (mid 90s):
Smoking room
Drinking in school on a Friday after the last bell
Ditto smoking in classrooms
Everyone expected to wear 'office attire'.
Women expected to wear court shoes and tights.
Everyone copping off with each other (most of us were young - it was one of those 'lively' schools that attracted inexperienced idealists - sensible people moved on rapidly)
Senior leadership referred to as 'Mr -' or 'Mrs -'

Teaching now:
No-one cares what you wear as long as you have a pulse and can be relied upon to turn up. No fags, booze or snogs though, I'm sorry to say.