HR Management & Compliance

A Piercing Question: How Far Should Dress Codes Go?

With up to half of younger employees now sporting tattoos, piercings, and other “body art,” how far should employers’ dress codes go to accommodate this?

Do you tattoo?

That’s a question employers have to ask themselves these days. The reason: There’s a good chance that, if you haven’t already, you’ll soon be dealing with employees or jobseekers with noticeable tattoos, body piercings beyond the traditional earlobe location, and other forms of what are called “body modifications” or “body art.”

How good a chance? Surveys differ, but the consensus is that between a third and half of people aged 18 to 40 have had their bodies decorated. With summer clothing revealing these fashion statements more now than at any other time of year, the question is whether they are appropriate for your workplace. How far can you go with your right to create and enforce a dress code to have your workers appear as you want them to?


Create a dress code that’s both legal and enforceable. An August 22 special audio conference tells you how. Can’t attend? Preorder the CD. Read more.


First, the legalities:

You are generally free to impose any rule on dress as long as you do not discriminate in a way that affects protected groups. That means that prohibiting or controlling dress or body markings required for religious reasons is illegal. Some examples include beards, headwear, or certain tattoos. An employee’s creed does not have to be from a recognized religion. Any system of sincerely held belief, with some concept of right and wrong, qualifies, says EEOC.

Another restriction involves gender discrimination. Women, for example, may not be made to wear uniforms while men only have to dress neatly.

A third restriction comes from health concerns affecting a specific group. Some racial groups, for example, suffer from a genetic skin condition that gets worse with shaving. A dress code requiring these individuals to be clean-shaven may be discriminatory in that it impacts them differently than other groups.

Absent these factors, the question becomes one of management preference.

Contact with Customers

Many companies base their policy on how much contact “modified” employees have with customers. Patterson Pope, a North Carolina installer of fixtures used in medical and legal offices, has a policy requiring field personnel to cover tattoos and remove facial piercing, says blog.piercingmap.com. Walt Disney World, famous for its strict “cast” appearance policies, allows employee tattoos but requires them to be covered with opaque makeup while not allowing coverage with bandages, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Other companies limit what’s visible. PetSmart requires tattoos to be covered and limits piercings to one per ear. Caribou Coffee permits two piercings in each ear, but not facial jewelry or tattoos that can be seen.


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The bottom line is that business these days has usually chosen to accommodate current body fashion, rather than ban it. One reason given is the growing talent shortage. Another is that tattoos, nose rings, and the like are worn by some of the smartest, most independent-minded, employee superstars.

“How’s your dress policy coming?” one IT worker asked in a recent blog, “because some of your best hires would rather drink gasoline than cover their tatts. The best and the brightest often aren’t the ones who comply. Look at Albert Einstein.”


Stressed over How Your Employees Dress?
If you feel the way your workers dress is damaging the image of your business, you need a dress code. But first you need to know the legalities involved. Learn them at a special BLR August 22 audio conference on creating legal, workable dress code policy. Can’t attend? Preorder the CD. Read more.


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