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When you hear the phrase "work uniform," do you automatically think of fast food restaurant employees with their paper hats or Wal-Mart greeters with their blue smocks? Or maybe you immediately think of the full jumpsuits that many auto mechanics or landscapers favor? Those are the kinds of jobs that we traditionally associate with uniforms, which makes sense since people in those positions are highly visible to customers. But there are also plenty of companies out there that require uniforms for everyone, from the machine operators to the office staff, and even the top executives.

I worked as a mid-level manager at a large company for many years. At a different company, I would certainly have had to wear proper business attire. But everyone at this particular company had to wear uniforms. It was my first experience with uniforms (outside of sports), and I have to say that I really like the idea. While some of you may bristle at the thought of such a major constraint to your wardrobe, there are actually many benefits that come with having to wear a uniform to work. For example, work uniforms allow you to:

1. Save Money
I had a friend who worked at the Gap while we were in high school. She worked three nights a week and on weekends, but never seemed to have any money to go out to lunch or to the movies. I asked her what she was spending her paychecks on. "Well, the store policy is that we have to wear Gap clothes when we are working," she complained. "I don't have a lot of Gap stuff, so I have to use most of my paycheck to buy their clothes!"

That's perhaps an extreme example, but there is some underlying truth to the scenario. The biggest clothing expense for adults is most likely their business wardrobe. Suits, dresses, slacks, blouses, blazers, and ties are all very expensive, but also very necessary in most office environments. Even if you work somewhere that has followed the "business casual" movement, you will still have to shell out quite a bit of money for appropriate attire. Clothes don't last very long before either wearing out or simply looking outdated, which means you will have to replace a good portion of your work wardrobe every few seasons or so. And don't forget dry cleaning costs, which can really add up after a while. With a work uniform, even if it just consists of a company shirt or blouse rather than a whole outfit, you wouldn't have to worry about most of these costs.

2. Save Time
I'm sure we've all had those mornings. You know the ones. You wake up late, scramble out of bed and into the shower, then panic because you can't decide what to wear, or even worse, don't have anything clean to wear. With work uniforms, you will never have to spend time trying to pick out the day's outfit. Think of how much time this will save you each morning. You can sleep an extra 15 minutes every day! Depending on how many uniforms you have, you probably won't be stuck without anything clean to wear, either. The company I worked for started each employee off with two shirts. Then we could purchase as many additional shirts as we wanted for $7 each. I had a total of eight uniform shirts, so I could go a pretty long time without having to worry about doing laundry.

3. Get More Accomplished
I don't know about your office, but a friend of mine worked in a place that had a pretty active rumor mill and gossip group among the staff. She said that she would sometimes accidentally walk in on a bunch of women who gathered in the restroom to make malicious comments about the way others were dressed. I guess there was one young woman in particular that liked to show off her figure. It was just the usual combination of jealousy and pettiness that fueled these gatherings, but the bottom line is that work wasn't getting done. If everyone in that office had to wear the same uniforms, it would be one less thing for people to waste time on. Granted, those who love to gossip would in all likelihood just move on and find other things to criticize, such as hair or makeup, but at least there wouldn't be anything to say about clothes.

4. Be on Equal Footing
Finally, I think it's important to mention that uniforms bring everyone to a certain level of equality. When wearing regular business clothes, it's easy to note differences among the staff. The guy who wears Armani suits is probably making just a bit more money than the guy who buys his suits off the rack at J.C. Penney. These kinds of differences can bring unnecessary tension or resentment into the workplace. Uniforms help eliminate some of these more obvious disparities.