Are Anti-Tattoo and Piercing Policies Discriminatory?
By: Mick, December 20th, 2006
I’m actually asking that question, as I’m fairly certain there is no federal legislation currently addressing it. There is a great post in the Select Metrix Blog about Tattoos and Piercings that got me thinking about the ramifications of imposing those types of restrictions on employees. Given the popularity of tattoos and piercings among people in general, but especially people under 30, I have to think that employers would be best served by allowing employees a high level of personal choice when it comes to their use and display of tattoos and piercings. Obviously, some limitations would have to exist in order to protect the safety and rights of the tattooed and pierced, as well as those around them.
But in general, I think the emphasis should be on the performance of an employee and the value he or she brings to an employer. When evalutations begin to address appearance and other non-performance measures, the results are almost always bad for all parties involved.
Tags: workers rights
Entries
January 16th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
It never fails to amaze me that employers bother to have policies about tattoos and piercings other than “if it’s going to interfere with how you do your job, don’t do it.” I mean, I understand not wanting to hire high-end corporate consultants with blue hair and three facial piercings, but it occurs to me that there are plenty of professions in which a little bit of that kind of thing actually helps- for example, I work with a lot of creative studios, agencies, web development shops, etc. I have occasionally felt like my overall lack of tattoos and piercings was a disadvantage, since it clearly sets the expectation with our clients that we are like them, and aren’t some generic recruiters pretending that we understand the creative fields.
January 16th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Great point about the creative fields. In my opinion, any policies that attempt to dictate personal style or fashion choices are going to be met with great resistance. As Generation Y assumes greater prominence in the labor force, many such policies will probably fade away entirely.
February 22nd, 2007 at 2:11 am
Of all the places where Tattoos thrive, the military does have restrictions about tattoos. The fundamental reason for that is ‘impressions count’. Depending on what the job is, undoubtedly determines whether tats and piercings are going to be ‘appropriate’.
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:35 am
Interesting about the military. Do you know what the specific restrictions are or if they differ among branches of the military?
February 13th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Well, for me, I actually do have purple hair, two piercings in my lips, one in my tounge, and a few others.
I also have a tattoo on my wrist, and ribs. I hope to get more because to me, it really is art. It’s so beautiful. So many employers tend to discriminate against modified individuals. Tattooing and piercing has been around for so long, through generations, and many different cultures. I can hope that these employers will wise up and realize that in this day and age, many of us express ourselves through our bodies. We are not robots. We have life stories that need illustrators.
And the public is not who is scared, or confused by this.
It is the older generations who do not understand the evolutions of the craft.
True beauty can be depicted on skin. It is an honor to have the tools to make your body look how your own mind feels it should.
But perhaps it is not for everyone. I just think that we should have the right to do whatever we want with the bodies we have. It is amazing what they can do.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Denni-Rae,
Although I’m not a modified individual, I completely agree that employers have no right to tell you how to express yourself nor apply their preferences to a workplace performance assessment.
I think the emerging generation of professionals will bring a more open mind to the entire issue and the prejudices that currently exist will become less of a factor. At least, that’s my hope. Thanks for the comment.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I have worked for many companies that believe they’re being fair by asking there employees to cover there tattoos. In order for me to cover all my tats I would have to wear a turtleneck year round. I’ve been looking for a job for two months , and cannot find an open minded employer.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:59 am
I am a 6′4″ Tanky kind of guy, just looking for a big dumb animal job, ya know, the warehousing jobs in the back, usually after hours, and I live in Shelton, Washington, just oustide of Olympia. I cannot find a job to save my @$$ because I have very visible facial tattoos and dozens of piercings, including 1 inch gauges in my ears, and 30 lip piercings that I gauged up to 6’s so I could put flesh tubes in my lips and thus effectively sew my mouth shut, because I dont like talking much. Typing and texting and writing is one thing, but talking to people just irritates me. I can lift an empty jacuzzi myself, and do it all day long, and I cant find a job because I scare people, even though I’m one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met face to face. All I want is to be left alone to do the heavy lifting that the little boys that have the jobs I want cant do as effectively as I could, and have a little stability. Piercings and tattoos are as old as humans and a closed minded society is the bane of all positive changes. I hate small minded people who can only see a monster and not a human. I dont give a **** that they dont understand it, I dont understand people who go to church every sunday, but I would still hire one of them if they could do the job. Wheres the love your brother claus when you need it!?
July 21st, 2008 at 11:02 am
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said. I think our society’s foundations in antiquated religious “ideals” has created a tendency for people to immediately judge/label/categorize everyone we meet before assessing their character or intentions. For many people, this process is simply a reflex action — they are completely unaware that they’re doing it or of the consequences of doing it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:12 am
I personally think that people who get tattoos as symbolic reminders of something important to them need to see a shrink. If they need to get inked as a reminder of something that supposedly matters to them, it’s either not that important, or they haven’t developped the concept of object permanency, which most people develop as infants/toddlers.
Personally, I just think that tattoos and piercings other than the commonplace ear-piercings are dirty looking and ugly, and if you’re working in a field that caters to a diverse group of people, they should be prohibited, because there’s only a limited group of the population that is comfortable with body ornamentation.
I’m 19, and I have plenty of friends who have gotten tattoos that I know will probably regret it later.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
Vicky,
I understand your opinions about how tattoos and piercings appear to you and that you don’t like them. But when you start limiting or trying to dictate someone’s personal appearance, you open a more complicated issue. Many of us, either intentionally or inadvertently, view people with visible tattoos and non-traditional piercings as second-class citizens. That mindset is very dangerous and it leads to prejudice and discrimination.
The issue becomes more muddled when you start to apply how piercings and body art fit into certain private workplace settings, but I stand by my initial assertion that we’d all be better off erring on the side of “live and let live” approach - in both business and society at large
September 4th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Interesting comments, but the reality in the business world is…. business owners have
always restricted what they considered to be “inappropriate” attire. You don’t see many people wearing bikini’s and flip flops to work (unless you work at a beach) even though that may be someone’s idea of self expression. Nor do you see men dressed in skirts or with makeup, yet that is the “requirement” in many businesses for women. By my mind, not hiring someone who has extreme tats or piercings, is the same as not hiring a man who comes to an interview in drag. This may be their idea of self expression, which they are entitled to. I am also entitled not to hire these same, otherwise qualified people.
October 19th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I’m heavily tattooed, but I made a sacrifice that I call “art versus eat”. I won’t tattoo below the wrist or neck-up. As much as I’d love to go full face and really start to take it to the next level, I still have to think about how I will eat. I’m currently unemployed by choice and working on a book and a few other creative endeavors. My other half works a fabulous, vanilla corporate career that is essentially recession proof that she loves. She supports my choices (as odd as they may be). I’m fortunate to have this creative freedom to pursue what I want, but I still keep the rule of art versus eat should I ever need to be gainfully employed again.
To the guy with 30 lip piercings (and btw, that sounds a bit far fetched) there’s tons of warehouses that will hire, manual labor/construction. I know guys here in Houston that work their assess off, make 16-20/hour and are inked/pierced to the hilt. It’s also in your approach… If you come off like a mongoloid, you’ll be treated like one. Piercings or not