What are your thoughts on...

Sep 23, 2015

Rissa G.

The work place and their rules on appearance? As far as no crazy colored hair, no visible piercings, no tattoos, etc?

How do you feel about this? Why do you feel it is so enforced especially amongst the office/professional spectrum of employment? Do you agree or disagree; do you think it is fair?

Sep 23, 2015

Shelby S.

I work in a place that is very strict on hair, and have worked and even stricter places that I've had to fight to have red hair. It's been irritating to say the least, but depends. I'd love to have crazy hair but where I'm at now I understand why it's not allowed. I feel like the generation that sees things like colored hair and tattoos even is being left behind because so many people these days have been fighting for their right to a job and also express themselves through their hair color and tattoos.

Sep 23, 2015

Diana T.

I think it's enforced because the company is paying you to work there - therefore they are also paying you to uphold the company's image and values (at least while you are at work) so if you don't look like you represent that image or values then most likely they won't hire you or they can fire you if you don't follow the dress code - it's always been that way and will always be that way because they pay you to be that way and you don't get any say in the matter - some companies are more strict than others - some allow a casual Friday as long as clothing is still tasteful - and then some make you wear suit n tie attire 24/7 - the reason is its business and good looking or well put together appearing people help the business to thrive and that's it - I think it would be cool if companies were not so strict on appearances but that's just the way it is.

Sep 23, 2015

Rissa G.

Good point! I agree in the fact that the generation that is all about tattoos and the crazy cool hair are struggling to get a job because they just don't feel the need to get rid of all that considering it's how they express themselves. It's a really broad topic because there's so many different opinions and thank you for sharing yours. I recently got a new job that is very strict when it comes to anything flashy which I don't mind following rules but it's hard letting go of my piercings and covering up my tattoos :-( I also can't have painted nails nor leave my hair down when I take on serving shifts! Little to no makeup as well! It'll be hard none the less but I'll be just fine. I just wish the workplace was a little more lenient, but like you I can understand why some places just won't allow it

Sep 23, 2015

Rissa G.

Definite good outlook on it Diana, spot on point of view. You are getting paid to work there and it's only right to uphold their image. Didn't stop to think about that one.

Sep 23, 2015

Lisa S.

I completely agree with Diana. If an individual feels so strongly to not uphold the rules as far as appearance at work goes, then I think they should look for a different job that is not strict on those rules. I think some rules are a little extreme but unfortunately not everyone see's it that way and you can't change them. They are the ones paying you, so you have to follow all the rules, even if you do not agree.

Sep 23, 2015

Alyx T.

Honestly I don't want to work anywhere, and "represent" them if they don't care about how I would like to look or express myself. I don't want to support suppression, so I don't. But that being said if you're target Audience is in their 40's and on the professional side, obviously having someone who has piercings and tattoos and colored hair may deter them from coming in. If it's a clothing store for teens, then I really don't think they should be saying anything about appearance. I have colored shaved hair and piercings, and I get "if you change your hair and remove your piercing" when applying for jobs. I don't mind it, it's whatever in 90% of cases. Like obviously some store that only sells to rich old ladies isn't going to hire me. I'm fine with that. I'm not their target audience. But when it's like garage or hmv or places where they're target audience is usually people under 25, then I get angry. I had a great phone interview where he was like "come in for a test shift, if all goes well, you have the job" with a local shop, its kind of a more Gothic shop, but it also sells rave gear, and I went in, expecting them to not care about my hair and the first thing the manager said to me was "did you just do this? are you planning on changing it before your shift?" And basically told me to get out when I said no I'm not changing it. That's when I draw the line. When 90% of your customers have colored hair, piercings, tattoos etc, then don't be suppressing your staff if they want to look like your target audience. Even claires (where they sell piercing jewelry) have said no to me because of my piercing. I had normal Auburn hair at the time too. That's when it gets ridiculous, suppressing and discriminatory.

Sep 23, 2015

Diana T.

I don't know if it's so much about having the sales people look like the customers or target audience - it's giving a professional portrayal more than anything - and retail is a completely different monster from say engineering or science or construction or any other industry - and working on the front register some stores care about the professional appearance of staff while others don't - and actually those decisions are usually made by management - not the company itself - so if you do feel discriminated against based on your appearance then you can say something and complain to the BBB or the company's HR group - but that's getting into whether or not they had a good reason not to hire you based on your resume and turned you down strictly based on your appearance.

Sep 23, 2015

Stephanie G.

Diana is spot on.

Sep 23, 2015

Alyx T.

There's no way to prove that they go "if you change your hair, we'll hire you" or "if you don't change your hair you don't get the job we just offered you" this is with retail and non retail places. Taking legal action would be pointless, a waste of my money and would get me nothing. They wouldn't have to hire me afterwards and I wouldn't want to work anywhere I had to basically sue to get the job. Though non retail places I find so much easier to find jobs at, they don't seem to care much about my hair or piercings. But with most places it's the manager. There are several places where you go to one and they don't care, but another will, even if it's in their rules, the manager has the right to ignore it if it's based on looks, which is discriminatory. The fact is it really doesn't matter to the costumers if they have purple or blonde hair, unless it's to a target audience that is more "conservative". I've never seen someone go "I don't want to shop at____ because the cashier has bright hair and I don't like it" they go there to get their things and if the staff was helpful then it's a good store experience, if they weren't then it wasn't. It has nothing to do with the way someone looks. This is the same with retail or hospitals or construction sites or anything. I can look professional, when my hair is back in a nice bun and I'm in a button down shirt and slacks, I look like anyone who works in an office job, with the exception of a metal piece of jewelry in my lip and the color of my hair, but presentable, "professional" looking or not, the fact is you get discrimanated and judged by just the color of your hair when it's not "natural". I've tempted at a hospital, they were perfectly fine with me being reception, hair dye, haircut, piercings and all, same with my mom's work, IT job at a construction company, but they were fine with me working there, but go work at claires for a while and dye your hair, they'll have a fit. I've even worked for the Canadian government, it was a family friends assistance job, but I had to go through the government screening process and everything. The man who interviewed me was like "if I hadn't started balding, I'd love to have blue hair". I got the job and it was all fine. I dealt with the public a lot, and never had anything negative said about it.

Sep 23, 2015

Rissa G.

Nice debate ladies. I definitely see where you're coming from also Alyx and don't like the discrimination at all...but being a small town gal like myself with limited job options makes it hard to find any job that isn't strict so I kind of HAVE to deal with it. :\ no matter how much I want to wear cute jewelry in my nose piercing or dye my hair red I can't, which sucks.

Sep 23, 2015

Rissa G.

I find it odd how you've only had experience in the retail world also, here at places like walmart or department stores (the few we have lol), that's where it's most lenient!

Sep 23, 2015

Alyx T.

Lol no I've only ever had it at retail places. Walmart is super strict here. Not even remember retainers are allowed. Some places are lenient, like I live in Edmonton with the big west Edmonton mall (like 600 stores and stuff) so there is not so bad. It's extremely busy all the time so they go through staff so much that they don't really have the option to be picky. But it's like a two hour bus ride for me and I don't have my own car, so it's not even plausible for me especially if I got night shifts, closing at 10, I wouldn't be able to bus home afterwards without having to walk from the transit center to my house which is an hour walk. But even there unless they need the staff their quite picky when they can be. It has a lot more kind of "alternative" stores though so they don't generally mind.

Sep 23, 2015

Taylor G.

Traditional standards of society see those things as deviant, therefore do not want people like that representing their workplace and bringing an image like that upon them. Of course it's not right, just because you have body mods doesn't mean you exhibit any other deviant behavior. It would be nice if it changed, but to me it doesn't seem like a big movement or anything, so who knows how long it will take for things like that to be allowed in professional workplace settings.

Sep 23, 2015

Taylor G.

Interesting discussion topic by the way :)

Sep 24, 2015

Diana T.

I've worked for a corporate office for a windows manufacturing company as an inside sales rep where my job was mainly done over the phone and we still had a dress code where it was business casual throughout the week and we had casual Friday - our dress code was different from the people who worked on the manufacturing floor - even though our customers rarely saw our faces we still had the company image to uphold - while people on the manufacturing floor had much more lenient standards in terms of tattoos or colored hair the company could care less as long as they wore steel toed boots and jeans it was all good - so like I said it's not about appealing to what the customers want to see - we never saw our customers but still had an image to uphold to represent the company.

Sep 24, 2015

Diana T.

Sorry I meant to say it's not always about appealing to what the customer wants to see.