DOLD/3679-09: Naked Monday Monday, September 07, 2009 Labor Day
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OVERVIEWBy directive of the Chief Executive a task force was formed to research, test and advise on the feasibility for recommendation to the national corporate and business community of a country wide initiative. The working title of the project was “Let It All Hang Out.” The committee was formed by ranking staff from the departments of;
- Commerce,
- Energy,
- Health and Human Services,
- Homeland Security, and
- Labor.
Homeland Security was not originally slated to occupy a spot on the task force but a deputy undersecretary offered to pay 25% of the budget outlay for the study providing he could be in charge of field tests. In addition, former President William Jefferson Clinton offered to act as referee and sexual harassment counselor for females during the field tests.
By order of the Chief Executive, the departments were to explore and offer for affirmative or negative recommendation on the subject of endorsing an alternate method of attire for the labor force in general for one particular day of the work week. The alternate method of attire in question would be no attire at all, or in other words, going to work naked.
The need for such a study was deemed necessary owing to the general loss of morale which is attributed in no small part to the current severe economic distress in the United States. In light of the success of “Casual Fridays” over the decades and in light of the backlash on Casual Fridays after the “dot com” bubble burst in the late 90s, it was felt that not only should something new be done to alleviate the current situation but that it should be exponentially larger.
Thus was born the initiative for “Naked Monday.”
APPROPRIATE VENUESBefore field tests could commence it first had to be determined if there were any particular jobs, careers, and/or professions for which Naked Monday would be inappropriate.
At first the construction trades were ruled out, but after consultation with OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) under the Department of Labor, it was determined that the policy could be applied to the building trades as long as the following guidelines were met, where appropriate;
- Steel toed shoes,
- Hard hats,
- Safety glasses, and
- Exposed and protruding body parts must be kept free of moving machinery.
Food services required special attention. Food preparation areas require clothing to prevent contamination of food and general safety. Hats, latex gloves, shoes, and, in this consideration, covering for orifices not usually associated with intake operations. As always, naked frying is a hazard and should be addressed separately.
Wait staff were less problematic as long as restrictions were followed when they entered food preparation areas. It was found, however, during field testing that overall food service would be improved if servers wore clothing covering genitals and posterior as the sight of a naked-below-the-waist food server approaching diner’s tables at near eye level tended to put a majority of customers “off their feed.”
FIELD TESTINGReferee and Sexual Harassment Counselor, Former President William J. Clinton
After all fundamental considerations had been discussed and conflicts resolved, the concept was put in the field.
The Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security in consultation with former president William Clinton chose field sites and interviewed candidates for the trials. Three sites were chosen; a business office, a restaurant, and a health clinic.
There was initial reluctance on the parts of several candidates. It was explained to them that participation was completely voluntary and for the first three weeks of the trials participation stayed below 80%. Eventually however peer pressure prevailed and by week 5 participation at all three sites achieved 100%.
There were six complaints of sexual harassment. All six charges were lodged against the task force’s field referee and ceased after a call was placed to the State Department.
It was discovered that a too literal application of “coming to work naked” was creating problems that needed addressing. After two arrests and eight automobile accidents it was decided that special instructions be issued when implementing the policy that workers should get naked while AT work and not prior to leaving their homes.
Overall it was found that employee morale immediately improved but there was a decrease in productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONSAs always it is necessary to take into account public sensitivity to any new policy implementation. In this case the task force considered two aspects; (1) Public sensitivity in the general sense where the public would not come into direct contact with business employees during the course of the day on Naked Monday, and (2) those who would. It was decided that, all other things being equal, that the public might initially react negatively to the voluntary policy implementation but would eventually become “desensitized” to it. For this reason it was decided not to exempt persons working the public service areas and front office venues.
Desensitization is best accomplished through the news media. The most common examples being the desensitization of the public to violence by constant exposure to it in film, music, and television, and the desensitization to the marital infidelities of elected officials. Give the boys and girls in mass media a horse and they will inevitably beat it long after it’s dead. The public eventually gets inured to shock effects and the media moves on to something else.
Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis
Based upon the task force’s research and studies both in the field and behind closed doors the recommendation is that the policy be put forth into the general business community at large.
Respectfully
Hilda Solis
Secretary
Department of Labor.
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