Grooming Issues

Gerri · November 2003

A supervisor sent me the following e-mail today. I know what my initial response is, but I'm curious how my fellow HR pros would handle this?

"(1) For sometime I have been noticing a lot of nose hairs on John Doe. Other people on our team have also commented. Due to the other issues with him I am not sure how to approach without getting him on the defensive side.

similarly

(2) Jim Doe's beard, I don't object to facial hair and beards in general, but in my opinion Jim Doe's is on the unprofessional line. I don't know how best or if I can even approach this."

marc · November 2003

Does John Doe deal with customers? If he has direct contact, my response would be different than if it is just in-house staff that are complaining.

ray a · November 2003

Write back to the supervisor and ask him how he intends to handle the situation.

HRICA · November 2003

What does your employee handbook say about facial hair? If, at the least, it mentions something like "professional appearance", then your supervisor(s) can manage it that way. Inappropriate grooming, especially when dealing with the public, is cause for a conversation with the offending (or is it offensive?) employee.

Crout · November 2003

What are the "other issues" with John Doe?

cebudragonlady · November 2003

Any action re facial hair has to keep in mind that
both males and females must be treated equally. What are you going to do if someone complains about a feminine "moustache"? - which may not look good to a customer.

Chari

System · November 2003

Nose Hairs? Tell that manager to get back to work!!!

Grooming Issues

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