Health Fitness and Aquatics Professional Appearance and Uniform Guidelines
As a charitable organization, the staff of the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford are required to dress in a professional and appropriate manner as part of the YMCA’s commitment to service excellence. Employees have the responsibility to respect the rights of others, support a positive, safe and shared environment.
Dress Code & Uniform Principles
Practicality
Work attire must be appropriate and practical for the position and specific duties to be carried out.
Visibility
Work attire must be professional and identify staff as YMCA representatives. Name tags are an integral part of the work attire and must be worn by all team members.
Affordability
YMCA issued clothing must be competitively priced, a good value and affordable for all team members.
Accessibility
Work attire must be constructed of easy care, durable, and high-quality materials. The design must be complimentary to all individuals.
Comfortable
Clothing must be comfortable so as not to interfere or restrict movement.
Dress Code & Uniform Guidelines
The following clothing guidelines will apply to all work attire:
a) Must be clean and free of any stains or visible marks.
b) Must be pressed and free of wrinkles.
c) Must adhere to the established Dress Code Specifications, where applicable, at all times.
d) All buttons, zippers and hems are in place.
e) Articles which are fraying, torn, faded, and do not fit well must be replaced.
f) Footwear must be appropriate, clean and in good condition.
In accordance with the YMCA standards, team members are required to dress in a manner that is consistent with the dress code guidelines. In so doing, it is the responsibility of each team member to respect personal hygiene practices such as clean hair, teeth and fingernails, the absence of body odor, and conservative use of fragrances.
Dress Code & Uniform Specifications
Work attire shall include the requirement of all employees, both full-time and part-time, throughout the Association to wear a YMCA issued name tag and/or photo identification. Each employee will be advised as to the Dress Code & Uniform Specifications for the department within which they have been hired.
Administration of Dress Code
Health Fitness and Aquatics staff members will be required to adhere to the Association’s uniform policy and will be issued complimentary uniform items based on the number of shifts an employee is scheduled to work.
The following complimentary items will be issued:
1 - 2 shifts per week – 1 shirt (one long or short sleeve)
3 - 4 shifts per week – 2 shirts (one short sleeve option, one long sleeve)
5 or more shifts per week – 2 shirts and a jacket (one short sleeve, one long sleeve and one jacket)
Aquatics- one lifeguard, one instructor singlet (as required)
Department Uniform Guidelines
- Child and Youth and Health and Wellness are required to wear one of the following YMCA issued tops: long sleeve, short sleeve, golf shirt or jacket and solid black pants or shorts (no jeans).
- Facility & Housekeeping staff are required to wear one of the following YMCA issues tops: long sleeve, short sleeve, golf shirt or jacket and sold black pants (black jeans acceptable)
- Membership, Residence and Manager on Duty are required to wear one of the following YMCA issued tops: long sleeve, short sleeve, golf shirt or jacket and black pants, skirts or shorts (no jeans)
- Group Fitness are required to wear one of the following YMCA issued tops: long sleeve, short sleeve, sleeveless shirt or racer back tank and solid black pants, leggings or shorts
- Aquatics are required to where a YMCA issued Guard or Instructor singlet and a black bathing suit and black shorts.
For any additional items that staff may wish to purchase, payroll deduction will be available. Please see your coach for the uniform payroll deduction form.
All staff are required to wear appropriate closed toe shoes with the exception of aquatics, which is permitted to wear sandals on deck.
Any shorts worn must follow the appropriate guideline for length, with no more than three inches above the knee. Exceptions to this will only be considered with supervisor approval for the aquatics team to ensure lifeguards are "rescue ready".
Employees are responsible for ensuring that their dress doesn’t interfere with any health or safety requirements.
Employees may wear dress or headwear requirements to support religious/creed accommodations and similar human rights accommodations.
If you require any accommodations for religious reasons or due to a disability, please speak with your General Manager.
Business Attire Definition
Health Fitness and Aquatics staff teams will follow the uniform policy guidelines. In the event of Association training days, staff may wear YMCA issued uniforms or follow the business attire definition.
Accordingly, the Association’s definition of “business attire” refers to a style of clothing that, in addition to being professional and appropriate, is clean, in good repair, and fits well.
Clothing that is considered outside the parameters of “business attire” include items such as overalls, denim, t-shirts (except in the camping operations and maintenance), leggings and casual shorts, baseball hats or mini-length shorts/skirts. (Shorts/skirts that are more than three (3) inches above the knee constitute mini-length for purposes of this definition.)
Clothing that is deemed “business attire” will include shirts and/or blouses with or without collars, sweaters, dress pants, dress cords, docker-type pants, skirts, and walking shorts. Ties and jackets are optional. The business attire dress standard is not based on a colour code.
The Association recognizes that employees may wish to accessorize based on personal tastes and
individual expression, however, it is expected that such accessories will be minimal and will not include pierced lips, nose, or eyebrows unless it can be determined that such accessories are part of an employee’s religious dress requirement.
Staff will respond to employee dress code violations in a consistent and fair way that:
- Is inclusive and non-gender specific, avoiding reinforcing gender and other stereotypes
- Works with the employee 1:1 while respecting privacy
Minor breaches of the policy will be addressed in private verbally. Further violations will be addressed with written warnings.
Serious and ongoing breaches of the policy will require the employee to correct the situation by changing their clothing. Any time away from work for this purpose shall be without pay
