Heels off under desk / around office

[lizzyh9]

Simple question - is this acceptable?

Boyfriend say should keep them on at all times!!

It might not be an issue for you personally pie but judging from the replies it clearly is an issue.

If my child's teacher was reaching barefoot on a regular basis I wouldn't raise it with the school or say anything, but in all honesty, I would think less of her (or him for that matter). I would think that she was unprofessional and possibly a bit odd or eccentric. I can't fully explain why but that's just my reaction.

I wear slippers in the office! Sometimes I'm shoe-less.... Always socks though, never bare feet as that's my preference. If the occasion requires it (some meetings, client facing, etc) then it's heels.

Professional engineering company in a reasonably senior role.

I couldn't give a hoot what someone wears on their feet, as long as they can do the job.

It is a shame some people are so judgemental.

Just out of interest have any of you asked your children about this thread? What are their opinions on their teacher taking off their shoes?

I asked my youngest she said if she has to wear a tie which serves no purpose she would find it hypocritical if her teacher wasn't dressed professionally.
I asked my eldest she said in her profession you would fail your exams for arriving inappropriately dressed this includes skirts that are too tight, low cut tops and bare feet or impractical heels.

i couldn't give a hoot what someone wears on their feet, as long as they can do the job.

Would you feel that way if the teacher was wearing thigh high leather boots? You really wouldn't think it sends out a poor message?

Would you feel ok about other forms of unprofessional dress - a teacher wearing a very low cut top for example - as long as they were good at their job?

Just trying to work out if there is actually a line or not

Unprofessional and slovenly. Buy shoes that fit and that you can wear all day.

I just find the idea of bare feet in a classroom quite minging- the person's feet must get filthy. I'm also curious about the hosiery issue: surely if one is interested in a 'professional' skirt suit image, then bare legs do not conform to that aesthetic; yet stockinged feet don't really lend themselves to nimble movement on classroom floors. Surely the wearer would end up skidding round the desks like an inelegant cartoon Roadrunner?

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I'd probably opt for a trouser suit and wearable shoes/boots.

I wear tights or stockings the majority of the time. Classroom is carpeted.

Ah, you work in posher classrooms than I've ever been in then .

Carpets! What has happened to our schools?

I teach in normal shoes, steel toecaps or wellies as stipulated in our dress code.
No high heel, no open toe sandals. Also bare feet unless appropriate risk assessment has been done.
Same as the last job.
Seeing as about 20% of teacher injuries are foot injuries, it seems sensible.

In an office it may be different.

I'm so glad I work from home - slippers if it's cold, socks or barefoot otherwise, and never heels . If I ever do have to go into the office it'll be in comfortable shoes.

The only person I've ever seen wearing slippers in an office was Nobel Prize winner Dorothy Hodgkin (quite old and arthritic by then but her brain still worked which is surely what matters in the workplace not your footwear)

Bof. Classroom carpet. It's not nice

Yes, I imagine it's still rather grubby. And if it's the synthetic carpet tile type, I'd be giving myself electric shocks all day by walking on it in tights. I also have a real dread of toe-stubbing.

Off on a slight tangent, my DD's school has a no-shoe policy... but just in the carpeted classrooms (to keep the carpets nice) AND only the kids have to take their shoes off, not the teacher. This is not surprisingly a contentious issue!

rubble.heppell.net/places/shoeless/

PitOfFique - they don't let them wear shoes in the classroom? At all? Do they not have a slipper or indoor shoes policy?

My DD's school has just been fitted with new carpets and they have the indoor shoes/ slippers policy. I wouldn't like her to walk around all day in her socks. She has a pair of canvas doodles for indoors, I would have sent in slippers but that would have ment school shoes, PE shoes and slippers which is a bit excessive - the doodles double as PE shoes.

On the shoe/ office topic I'm currently breaking in a new pair of leather loafers just now and took my ballet flats into work with me last night as I knew I wouldn't last the 12 hour shift in my new shoes. No way I would have gone around in my socks half the night. I think the only reasonable exception to the no shoes rule would be if your shoes got soaked by some unexpected weather on the way to work. I wouldn't expect someone to sit with soaked feet for 7 hours so taking shoes off to dry out would be ok but other than that it's just a bit gross and unprofessional.

Your article is interesting, Pit, if a little on the generalising side. The shoeless schools I have come across in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland are actually all outdoor-shoeless and slipper wearing shoes.
Nevertheless, it makes the classroom a more "like home" and much cleaner space. Carpet time in my dcs primary - boak. I don't even want to think about how manky those carpets are...

Slipper wearing shoes? I mean schools. Shouldn't try to mn and work at the same time!