Workplaces that don't allow tattoos/piercings

I am writing an article against companies that prohibit their employees to have visual body modifications. This article will be featured on a startup website about our people's lack of various freedoms. I personally do not have any piercings or tattoos, so I was looking to get some other points of view on the issue. Personally, I think it is a violation of the freedom of expression. Any thoughts? If you give your name, I can quote you in the article. Otherwise, I will just take note of your opinion

 

Hey! I used to work at a breakfast/brunch restaurant as a server that didn't allow any visible face piercings/tatts.

At the time I had dreads and my nose pierced. I had to wrap my dreads in a black lacy scarf and take out my nose ring.

 

Yeah but don't you feel like it is not their place to tell you to be more plain and make yourself look "normal"? I guess they can say a piercing is not part of the uniform, but it is a body modification..a change you make to your body. I suppose the tattoo thing is more discriminatory, since they cannot be removed. I worked at a magazine company this past summer. It was a telephone customer service representative job, which means no customers ever saw the employees. A girl I worked with had to wear long sleeved shirts the entire summer in the hot building to cover up a tattoo on her arm. It said her child's name.

 

Oh absolutely! I bitched about it every day! I mean, they saw me for the interview, shouldn't they have said something then? The first day I showed up my boss took one look at me and said "Oh no, you're not working here looking like that!" But I needed the money so I compromised myself. Never again. And yes, tattoos are more "offensive" in the workplace than piercings, but my biggest issue with them was making me cover up my beautifull dreads. Hey, live and learn though.

 

i think its so stupid!!!! how can you judge someone by what they do to their OWN body, its not like theyre harming anybody else.

and tattoos and piercings dont effect how you work!!

 

why not just get a job with the dept of corrections if you want tats and piercings??

 

^No thanks...I have my perfect job now, I'm a nanny and the kids love all my "prettys".

 

I don't think piercings and tattoos should be shown. Why should they be?

These days corporate culture suggests that unity is a key element in a businesses success, at least regarding HRM. Why the hell would they allow any one person to look any different

you are supposed to be working for a company, in a team, and I think that should be respected. Imagine you get married and your best man turns up in flop flops and a pair of speedos, it would be a tad out of place wouldn't it?

And anyways, rules need to apply to maintain discipline.

 

I actually just found a link earlier today to an article on the ineffectiveness of strict dress codes in the workplace. Unfortunately, the link was broken and I didn't get to read it lol

Anyway, I think strict dress codes are ridiculous and I agree that they are ineffective, unnecessary and outdated. It's 2010 for fuck's sake, anyone who is offended by a tattoo in this day and age needs to go get fucked I have multiple tattoos and have had multiple piercings in the past (had to remove all but my ears do to jobs and the job I do have limits it to 1 per ear but I just put them back in when I get home) and I can say with confidence that my body modifications do not affect my work ethic or ability to perform above and beyond my duties.

I have received many awards and have quickly worked my way up to management positions in every job I've held. This rings true for every other modified person I've worked alongside. This is not to say that non-modified persons do not work as hard, it's just my experience that modifications obviously do not affect the quality of an employee's work.

It is an unfortunate truth that body mods have a social stigma associated with crime and "undesirables" but I believe society in general, as body modification becomes more mainstream, does understand that not every person with a tattoo is automatically a member of Hell's Angels or out to rape and rob your mother for crack.

That being said, there are a few instances when dress codes are necessary and should be enforced for safety and health reasons ONLY, i.e. working around animals (ever have a piercing ripped out by a rowdy cat? I have, it sucks!), operating heavy machinery that you could get your dreads or eyebrow right caught up in, or possibly a job in the medical field were gaping holes in your face and body could be a sanitation issue.

Jobs that deal with the public where body modifications pose no threat to the individual's or client's health or safety should have no say in how their employees choose to present themselves (aside from proper hygiene and showing up to work half naked obviously). Not only does it promote low morale in the workplace by making people feel restricted and unable to express themselves, therefore resent their jobs, it is completely unnecessary in this day and age and only perpetuates old stereotypes and closed-mindedness which is something there is certainly already too much of.

 

:iagree: arty:

 

im sorry, if you are working with the public, you should have the image your employer is trying to cultivate for its business. I have way long hair, but when a situation has arisen that i have needed to put it up due to where i was working - I didnt gripe about it. Get over it, there are plenty of people who would take that job!

I dont see why folks who adorn their body would be uptight that other folks have reactions when they see it. Some like, which is a bonus - but to whine when someone doesnt like it seems so hypocritical! You got the tat, piercing or w/e and knew it was visible. Why so surprised when someone sees it and maybe *gasp* doesnt like it! Dont blame them for something you have done - I find it ridiculous that a person would make a statement with their body then take offense about how that statement was met!

Besides, to gripe shows how petty you are about others being petty. Rise above it and be the bigger person if you want others to see how shallow it is. You have empowered them so much more to complain! Plus, how much do you let others thoughts about you dictate what you do or how you feel? Be yourself, but dont force it on people - lest you be the one who is a jerk!

 

^^Is how I feel about people who are offended by body mods. I'm not offended that people are offended by them and I certainly don't try to force my beliefs on others, but I'd prefer to work for a company who cultivates DIVERSITY as part of their image. Of course, not all companies do this (which is a shame), and I do need money so I suck it up and wear 3/4 sleeve shirts and take out my jewelry on the job. My issue is not what others think of me, so much as the message most companies are sending is that "only 'normal' looking people are good and productive, people with mods are criminals and incapable/undeserving of being successful in the workplace."

I understand the reality of it and don't throw a temper tantrum when a boss tells me to cover up, I simply don't agree with it.

 

Hmm...I hadn't thought of it that way, but you make a very good point. But that right there is why I refuse to work for a corporate company.

 

I run a labour hire business and most of our clients won't accept us referring someone with facial piercings or tattoos and it doesn't fit their corporate image. In some respects i agree but in others i don't, but business is business and we don't use them mostly!

 

Yeah, I agree.

A lot of it has to do on the mindset of the managers,my last place had it in the policy as no tattoos or piercings, but the management was pretty relaxed about it. People still make rather prejudiced judgements from appearance.

 

I work in finance at a big bank and my boss has a full sleeve. In general these things are only a problem if you work with customers directly all the time or trying to get a job that is contracted/temp..
If you can't understand why a restaurant doesn't want a motley crew looking wait staff I don't know what to tell you.
Even if you are still in college or high school you could get some kind of phone work job that as long as you cover up on the interview you will be fine on the job. Of course you are perfectly free to not cover up on the interview, however the employer is equally free to not hire you.

 

This was somewhat humorous to me.

When I was a teenager I had many piercings, I worked for Burger King at the time. Although they didn't really want piercings on their employees, the manager was good about it. Sometimes, on busy days like Saturdays, she'd ask me to take a few out of my face but I could leave my earings.

Years later I got a job at Tim Hortons, a Canadian Coffee shop chain, and I had no facial piercings at the time but get this, I was told I had to shave my facial hair, I usually adorn a soul patch. Yet every other guy there was middle eastern and every one of them had huge, thick mustaches.

I was told I could grow a mustache but not a soul patch

 

I got fired from wendys (of all places) because of my earings. I have a 4 hole corkscrew and because it was more then one hole but only one piece of jewerly in it they didnt alow it. But they did let people have 5 or 6 holes in the upper ear if they had a seprate ring in each hole.

 

I think it is absolutely ridiculous to ban tattoos or piercings. The idea that you have to cultivate a certain image just perpetuates the myth that people with body mods are bad workers or outlaws or thieves or whatever stupid stereotype is in effect at the moment. I currently have a tongue ring, a tattoo on my ankle, and a backpiece. In what way to these modifications change the way I do my job? That's right, they don't. As long as someone is neat and clean, what is the issue?

I'm in school to be a medical assistant. I haven't noticed my tongue ring interfering with drawing a patient's blood or charting. My tattoos don't seem to affect my ability to take vitals. Etc. I am a great MA, regardless of my outward appearance.

 

I got my lip pierced back in December of 09, and at the job I held then, I was not allowed to have it in, while on the floor. I worked at a daycare. After I quit that job, a girl who worked there with me, got her tongue ring, and she was allowed to keep it in. I do know that girl was a suck up to the boss, and even though my lip ring would have been more visible than a tongue ring, I feel like if I wasn't allowed to have a "facial" piercing, she shouldn't either. They were also going to not allow me to wear the work tank tops, since I would have a visible shoulder tattoo, or shorts since my calf tattoo would show. Again, flip flops because of my tattoo there. I did as I pleased, and I now have a new job that allows me to have my facial piercings, and tattoos visible. Which is shocking to me. I am now a CNA where I work with older people, and that generation typically disapproves of tattoos and piercings, since a lot of my residents are 70+ years old. When the children thought it was cute and they liked my "earring in my face".

When I had braces they also thought my teeth had cute necklaces...