Benefits of work uniforms for businesses

Benefits of work uniforms for businesses

Whether you have provided uniforms for your employees before, or you are thinking about doing so for the first time, there are many benefits of having a work uniform that will identify your employees as being part of your business.

Brand Identity

Uniforms are a great way to reinforce your brand.  By choosing items in colours that complement your logo, then adding your logo in a clearly visible position, your brand identity is strengthened and the uniforms support your brand image.  In addition, your employees become a “walking advert” for your business when they go out for lunch or wear their uniforms anywhere outside work.  Brand identity can also be reinforced by supplementing a uniform range with promotional items such as lanyards, mugs and pens.

Customer Confidence

Customers will immediately be able to identify your employees.  This is particularly important in hospitality, retail or any sector where customers may need to find an employee easily to ask for help or advice.  For example, it is vital for customers in a restaurant to be able to easily identify the service staff to order what they need.  In addition, customers perceive business with employees in uniforms as being more professional and being prepared to invest in their staff.  When your staff are in uniforms, it gives your brand legitimacy and inspires confidence in your customers that you are an established and trustworthy organisation.

Employee Commitment

Employees who wear uniforms are often more committed to their employer.  They feel like they belong to their employer’s community, they appreciate the investment their employer has made in them, and often enjoy the ease of dressing in a uniform each day, rather than having to decide what to wear to work.  Obviously to uniforms to have this effect, they need to be comfortable, practical and suit a range of body shapes.  At Simply Uniforms we can help you build the right uniform range for your people.

Safety

In some instances, uniforms can be necessary for safety.  Even if it just sun protection for people working outside, employers have a responsibility to keep their employees safe.  Other safety benefits of uniforms include high visibility, heat stress, waterproofing, fire resistance and arc protection.  We can provide information on which Australian standards our garments meet, so that you can ensure you are supplying your employees with the right gear for the job.  Boots, hats and PPE complete your range of safety wear.

Advertising

Uniforms are a very low-cost way of advertising.  If you have employees who are out and about on the job, such as cleaners, electricians, builders or service engineers, then what they wear can attract customers to your business.  A large screen print on the back of a shirt with a web address or phone number can drive traffic to your website or generate phone enquiries.  And when your employees do such a good job, you want that customer to remember where they were from, right?  Baseball caps and small gifts like USB sticks, notebooks or water bottles can also be highly effective permanent reminders of your business when given to customers.  Not many advertising methods keep your brand permanently on show to a customer for such a low cost.

Financial Benefits

We are not tax experts (so please don’t rely on us for tax advice) but in most cases work uniforms are a tax deductible expense when employers provide them to their employees.  In many cases, employers provide their employees with a uniform allowance which the employees can spend on the uniform items of their choice.  In other cases, employers allow each employee the same number of pieces, such as 5 shirts, or 3 shirts and 2 pants.  Either approach ensures that all employees are treated equitably and also helps the employer to budget for the total expenditure.  Employees can claim the cost of laundry and maintenance for compulsory uniforms against their income tax.  If you choose to make your uniforms non-compulsory for employees, then if you register the uniform with the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Corporatewear Register, employees can also claim the cost of buying and maintaining their non-compulsory uniforms.  To find out more, click on this link to Business.gov.au.

If you have any questions about any of the above or would like our advice on creating a uniform range, please contact us now for help.