Civil servants 'made uncomfortable' by colleague dressed as cat in government office
Civil servants have expressed dismay that their colleague has been allowed to dress in such an ‘unprofessional’ manner
Civil servants are being made to feel ‘uncomfortable’ by a colleague who arrives for work dressed as a cat.
The male staff member is believed to identify as non-binary and is said to wear dresses with the tail poking out of the back of the dress.
Colleagues have expressed dismay that the person’s unusual choice of clothing was not more robustly addressed by management.
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A government insider confirmed the staff member dresses as a cat. The civil servant is also said to wear ears as part of their office attire.
The issue first came to light in a social media post claiming the staff member was turning up to work at the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh HQ Victoria Quay.
A social media post about the alleged incident said: "My friend at the Scottish Government says that a male has shown up to VQ to attend a training session whilst wearing a dress, cat ears and a cat tail.
“I wish I was making this up.”
A second insider, who works at Victoria Quay, also confirmed the person’s choice of dress.
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They said: “The issue seems light hearted but, actually, staff were uncomfortable but felt they couldn’t express opposition to this form of dress because we are encouraged to be kind and open-minded, especially around issues of identity.
“It is disquieting though. There’s a feeling it could have been more swiftly handled.”
The Civil Service Code states that staff must “always act in a way that is professional and that deserves the confidence of all those you deal with”.
The rules extend to clothing and appearance.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "All civil servants are required to dress appropriately for work.
“The dress described in this claim would not meet that requirement.”
Victoria Quay has been in the spotlight recently following concerns around the building’s occupancy rates.
It was revealed last year that civil servants would be required to attend the office 40 per cent of their working week.
However, opposition politicians have criticised the expense of running office space that is not at fully occupancy.
It is understood that Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin has plans to increase the in-office requirement to 60 per cent in the coming months.
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