Should your employer pay for changing clothes at work? It’s a common situation, but not always legally clear. In this article, I explore what the law says and when you should be paid.

Nederlandse lezers: dit artikel is beschikbaar op Prettybusiness.nl.

A Dutch call center employee wanted to be paid for the ten minutes he was required to be on-site before each shift. The judge agreed, ruling that the man was entitled to €1600 in back pay.

Changing clothes at work: what the law says

Reading about the court ruling reminded me of the many jobs I worked to pay for my studies. At some companies, I could change into my work attire during paid hours. For example, when I worked for a few weeks as a street subscription sales rep for a newspaper, we had to wear special jackets, and sometimes shirts, which we put on during work hours.

When I worked at the clothing brand Didi, it was a different story. We had to arrive at least fifteen minutes early, unpaid. During that time, we had to choose an outfit from the store, put it on, and prepare the store for opening. Because of the specific requirements, this wasn’t always straightforward. You had to wear the latest collection, and you couldn’t repeat outfit combinations too often. Since not all sizes were always in stock, you couldn’t decide on an outfit in advance. On top of that, the clothes weren’t always comfortable or flattering. Once your outfit was ready, you were expected to add accessories from the store to complete the look.

I often struggled to get everything done within fifteen minutes, and my manager advised me to arrive even earlier. When I had to open the store, she later checked what time I had disarmed the alarm to see if I had arrived early enough. The tricky part was that colleagues who bought the store’s clothing themselves didn’t face this problem. They could get dressed at home and didn’t need to change at work. As a student, however, I simply couldn’t afford to buy a new outfit every time a collection launched.

Changing clothes eight times a day

During the first two years of my Public Administration degree, I worked summer shifts at a pharmaceutical factory. Because of strict hygiene rules, we had to change from head to toe before entering the workspace. At the start of each shift, we put on a shirt, pants, a hairnet and clogs in the changing room.

And it didn’t stop there. During the day, we had two short breaks of fifteen minutes, one before and one after lunch. Lunch itself lasted half an hour. Before each break, we changed back into our own clothes, and afterwards we changed into our workwear again. The company deducted this time from our unpaid break.

In total, we changed clothes eight times a day, all unpaid. I didn’t mind too much though. The work was exhausting, but it paid well.

 

When should your employer pay for changing clothes at work?

Now, back to the main question of this article: should your employer pay you for changing clothes at work? I discussed this with Suzanne Meijers, an employment lawyer and author of Geen gedoe met personeel (No Nonsense with Staff).

“If I look at the recent ruling, the main question is whether you need to be present earlier to carry out preparatory work. Do you need these activities to perform your actual job? If so, you are already working.”

“In my view, your example of changing clothes at the pharmaceutical factory also falls under this. This relates to hygiene and internal rules. However, if you work in hospitality and put on your formal attire at home or at the restaurant, I wouldn’t consider that the same. But if Didi required you to carry out preparatory tasks to change clothes and open the store, then that could count as working time. After all, they required you to be present.”

Pay for changing clothes at work?

It’s clear that employers can’t always expect you to arrive early without compensation. Once you start working, you should be paid. That only seems logical to me, and this ruling makes it just a bit clearer.

 

Want to read more about dress codes and employee rights?

Also check:

• Vegan workwear and the law: what employers must know
• Transgender employees and uniforms: what employers can and cannot require
• Why Starbucks employees are suing over the new dress code

Best regards,
Aileen

Last update: 01/05/2026