Piercing, tattoos taboo in workplace
2001-06-25 13:08
Chicago - Ron Carter's Starbucks' Coffee uniform
includes pants, a shirt, an apron - and wristbands to hide his
coffee connoisseur customers from the tattoos on his arm.
The drawings are "nothing serious, no gang emblems or
anything," said Carter, a coffee taster for several Starbucks
restaurants in Chicago. One of the tattoos is the word "Janet"
- Carter is a fan of pop star Janet Jackson - the other is
Sanfok, a form of African tribal art.
His case is not unusual in the US workplace, where the
popularity of body piercing and tattoos is posing a challenge
to the dress codes of many employers.
While Carter would like Starbucks' appearance guidelines to
be more relaxed, he understands the company's reasoning.
"I just take it as a protocol," he said. "It's a business."
Chris Gimbl, a spokesperson for Starbucks said
employees generally see the chain is trying to present a clean,
neat environment and are willing to adhere to its policies.
A few employees have been terminated for refusing to remove
piercings or cover tattoos, Gimbl said.
Starbucks requires employees to cover all tattoos and
remove certain piercings. Carter has obliged for seven years,
since he began work for the Seattle-based coffee seller.
Dress code legal
Under the law, if Carter wants to work at Starbucks, he
does not have a choice. Employers are allowed to impose dress
codes and appearance policies as long as they do not
discriminate on race, colour, religion, age, national origin or
gender said Diane Amos, a public affairs specialist at the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Still, as the number of pierced and tattooed employees has
grown, so have the numbers of employees challenging the
legality of appearance policies, said Ethan Winning, a human
resources consultant who has been retained by companies in more
than a such dozen lawsuits.
"I've never known an employee to win a case and I've never
known a company to lose a case," Winning said. "The employer
can set a reasonable standard for dress as long as it doesn't
discriminate."
Specific and consistent appearance codes are less
vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits, said human resources
consultant Lynne McClure. She has acted as a mediator between
companies and employees in several appearance policy disputes.
"Our whole society has become very lawsuit happy," McClure
said. "I think companies are very vulnerable as people get more
aware of the whole diversity issue. Companies need to be
consistent with the dress codes they impose and consistent
about enforcing them."
Wal-Mart Stores has developed specific policies regarding
piercing and tattoos "as the culture has evolved and issues
have come up," said Tom Williams, a spokesperson for the
company - the largest US non-governmental employer.
Wal-Mart does not allow facial jewellery, specifically
eyebrow, nose and lip piercing. It also requires earrings and
hair colour, on both men and women, to be "conservative."
Employees with "offensive" tattoos must agree to keep them
covered.
Appearance has an impact on both employee performance and
customer perceptions, according to Williams.
Comfort factor
He said the policies exist because they help customers feel
comfortable. "So when they come shopping it is a pleasant
experience for them," he said.
But employers need to consider whether a piercing or a
tattoo is worth the expense of a lawsuit or training a new
employee, McClure said.
"In today's marketplace there are more jobs than there are
people," McClure said. "I usually think it is best for
companies to keep the ones (workers) they got."
But some employers, including Sears, Roebuck and Ameritech, a telephone service
provider that is a unit of SBC Communications, said safety
concerns obligate them to strictly enforce the company dress
code. Loose jewellery can become entangled with equipment, they
said.
Ameritech recently suspended three employees without pay
for refusing to remove facial piercings.
"Its wearing suitable clothing for the type of work that is
going to be done," said Denise Koenig, a spokesperson for
Ameritech. "We make evaluations based on safety all the time."