Removing shoes at work

This week I started removing my shoes while at the office. I had not done this in any of the offices that I worked in before. That was mainly because my shoes had laces. If you take your shoes off at work, you want to be alble to put them back on quickly if you need to rush around. Now that I wear slip-on shoes I can do that (going to Japan made such a difference to my life). Obviously, it is not a cleanliness thing. It is a comfort thing. Who wants to be in their shoes all day?

Being able to remove your shoes is an advantage of working in an office. You cannot do it if you work in a factory or a kitchen. However, it does not look especially professional (unless you work in an Asian country where everybody entering the office has to take their shoes off). If you work in an office wear everybody is expected to wear a suit, then walking about the office in your socks is not going to go down well. However, if you are in that situation, you can always slip them off under the desk without being seen, provided you dont wear lace-up shoes.

The office I work in has a very casual culture. There is no dress code and you can wear sneakers without anybody complaining (not that I do that). I think I can get away with padding in socks some of the time.

Readers, is removing shoes at work something you would do?

And if you were the boss, would you make it a rule, in order to keep the office floor clean?