The TUC believes the best way for staff to keep cool when it's swelteringly hot is by wearing more casual clothing and to be allowed to come to work in shirtsleeves and shorts. Workers who are unable to dress down in offices without air-conditioning, fans or cool drinking water are unlikely to be productive or creative.
Even for external meetings, the TUC points out, it should be possible to agree on a dress code that fits in with the company image and helps keep staff cool.
As our summers are predicted to get hotter in the future, this is a problem that is not going to go away, warns the TUC. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "We'd like British bosses to think seriously this week about how they can make their workplaces cooler and their staff less overheated. Allowing employees to dress down in the current heatwave will prevent them from collapsing at their desks, and could also save companies money as they are able to turn down the air con a notch."
Although the law states that staff should work in a reasonable temperature there is no legal maximum, says the TUC. It would like to see the law changed so there is an absolute indoor maximum of 30°C, with employers forced to introduce cooling measures when the temperature hits 24°C.
Employers must keep workplaces cool and let staff dress down, warns the TUC
With temperatures expected to reach 32C later in the week, employers have been urged to relax office dress codes and cool down offices for the sake of employee health.
