Nose rings in the office
System
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I have a problem with an employee wearing not just jeans, but nose rings and multiple ear-rings and eye brow rings to the office. Have talked with her, her supervisor has talked with her, the nose ring has come out, but still has brow rings. This is an office environment.
Comments
Anne in Ohio
Lessons in the historical shifts in jewelry patterns aside, an employer has an absolute right to define and enforce an appearance/dress code policy. It need not be proven on the Forum or to an employee that such policy is based on anything other than the employer's right to establish a policy, period. Religious accomodation is one thing. Eyebrow, navel, lip, tongue or testicle piercing in an employer's customer service area or anywhere he so chooses, is quite another. Workplaces, contrary to some opinions, are not democratic venues and often one might expect to find such odd things as rules, codes, guidelines, expectations and consequences.
Whereas we might listen as children protest that "Gosh, Mary can stay out until 12:30", we are not equally condemned to listen to our workers say "Well, 37 years ago they wouldn't show Elvis' lower half on Ed Sullivan". Post teenagers are not a group given protection under our labor laws.
We have a business casual dress code and allow body piercings as long as the employee is not meeting with a customer or respresenting the company at a public event. On those occasions we require professional attire.
As far as the not wearing make-up, it was a long standing policy of the hospital because they felt that make up contained germs and some patients have allergies to make up as well. We used to have a nurse supervisor that did spot checks for make-up and hair spray. I don't think anyone gave her that authority but I saw her once send an emplyee home for wearing hairspray.
The nose ring was removed after the supervisor spoke with the employee. The brow rings remained. What was agreed to in the meeting with the supervisor, we do not know. Obviously, there remains a problem with the employees dress habits.
Did the employee have the holes and/or jewelry when hired -- we do not know. Most of us HR types certainly attempt to match job candidates with the culture they will be working in. But it happens -- people change or we miss the signs. That being said, employees do have personal rights (not talking about religion or any other kind of discrimination or issues here).
It just seems to me we are about to cross over the line here. Absent a dress code specifically stating what the limits on jewelry are, management can not expect employees to be compliant with their private/personal opinions or problems with the jewelry one wears. I might speak with the employee and explain management's side of the issue. I might even mark the employee down on appearance categories in their evaluations. Would I insist that they not wear the nose rings/multiple earrings (how many is too many?) or eye brow ring -- NO! I don't even want to answer the lawyer's letter not less go before a judge on this one. Shucks, the judge may be wearing three earrings. . .
The first day she came to work, she was unrecognizable. She was wearing her hair skinned back and slicked down with some icky, sticky goo and held back in a little pony tail behind her head. Looked like she hadn't washed her hair in a month!
She was also wearing knee socks with sandals.
In our very ultra-conservative,small town bank, this went over like a lead balloon. She was told to either wash the mess out of her hair and lose the knee socks or don't bother to come back. She complied, but we never did figure out what caused her lapse of sanity.
>a dress code specifically stating what the limits on jewelry are,
>management can not expect employees to be compliant with their
>private/personal opinions or problems with the jewelry one wears.
I respect your right to that opinion; however, it's not a correct statement. An employer does absolutely have a right to tell an employee her/his personal choices are not in line with the expectations of the company. He need not draw out a difinitive rulebook full of limitations and acceptable things or engage in a jousting match with an employee over what was or was not specifically included on a list.
I might even mark the employee down on appearance categories
>in their evaluations. Would I insist that they not wear the nose
>rings/multiple earrings (how many is too many?) or eye brow ring --
>NO!
If I understand you correctly, you favor 'marking the employee down on appearance'; however you would not enforce it further or advance the discipline? I don't follow that reasoning at all. If we are not prepared to defend and perhaps advance our discipline, we certainly should not be meting it out to begin with.
I don't even want to answer the lawyer's letter not less go
>before a judge on this one. Shucks, the judge may be wearing three
>earrings. . .
A judge has the authority to state boundaries and enforce discipline only in his courtroom; as does an employer at his place of employment, again, as long as they do not violate the protections provided by law. If my policy states that employees are expected to dress and groom in a manner appropriate to a business environment, I assume that some few may not understand what that means or pretend not to. If that happens, a discussion by the appropriate management team member will explain that brow rings, multicolored hair, nose rings/bones and other visible rings, (beyond a pair of earrings) and other invasive devises are not appropriate to this business environment. Now, it is assumed the employee will comprehend and will have the option to comply or go home.
This is not 'a generaltional thing' at all. It is a fact of life. It comes with the turf of owning a business.
Ever see "My Cousin Vinnie?"
To evaluate an employee on dress that may not be "considered" appropriate for the environment one works in is not a matter of discipline at all. It would be a measurement of how the employee thinks and acts and a rating of judgement.
"the appropriate management team member will explain that brow rings, multicolored hair, nose rings/bones and other visible rings, (beyond a pair of earrings) and other invasive devises are not appropriate to this business environment."
Of course it is generational when you consider which age group wears the nose rings and brow rings (hopefully it is a passing fad -- but who knows).
"beyond a pair of earrings" Many many ladies (maybe men, too) now have four piercings in their ears and wear TWO PAIR of earrings on each ear. Are you going to send them home also? Will you send the men who wear one or two? Why not send home those whose earrings are too large or too gaudy.
I do not agree with you on this one. Companies have the right to set standards of dress, of course, and can establish policies and dress codes which should be adhered to. However, to try to enforce a no policy policy on jewelry is carrying it too far.
>
>Of course it is generational when you consider which age group wears
>the nose rings and brow rings (hopefully it is a passing fad -- but
>who knows).
>
You obviously haven't seen some of the 50 year old guys I ride with.
I don't allow employees to talk like that, either.
Now, for the next question, what about tattoos?
Tattoos which cover more than one-third of any exposed body part must be concealed. This excludes facial tattoos, which are not allowed.
All I could think about was how much this must have hurt.