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Body Art in the Workplace
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Body Art in the Workplace
Discuss workforce management, performance management, retention, communication, motivation, contributing to business results and other topics.
Workforce Management would like to invite you to join the conversation here regarding our November magazine cover story on body art in the workplace, which is posted on workforce.com: http://tinyurl.c
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Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Body Art in the Workplace
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/12/2010 6:30 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 11/12/2010 Last: 11/12/2010 |
Workforce Management would like to invite you to join the conversation here regarding our November magazine cover story on body art in the workplace, which is posted on workforce.com: http://tinyurl.com/3xb9tyo . The author of the story, Senior Writer Rita Pyrillis, will participate in this forum as well. Thanks for your interest. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/12/2010 7:03 AM EST
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Posts: 3
First: 11/12/2010 Last: 3/25/2011 |
I enjoyed working on this story, but found that some companies were reluctant to discuss their policies regarding tattoos and piercings. As younger generations enter the workforce, it seems that the issue will become unavoidable. How does your company deal with body art in the workplace? I'd appreciate hearing your comments. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/16/2010 4:23 AM EST
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Posts: 42
First: 8/7/2000 Last: 11/16/2010 |
Tattooing and body piercing have become increasingly popular in recent years. The rules governing tattoos and body piercing are simple. Visible body piercing, including face, head, neck, tongue or other visible parts of the body (other than ears), is prohibited. As for tattoos, they must be covered, if possible. If they canât be covered, they must be conservative and not pose a potential customer relations issue. Visible tattoos that are obscene, lewd, crude, or portray or represent nudity, vice or crime or contain profanity are strictly forbidden, and must be covered up. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/16/2010 4:45 AM EST
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Posts: 3
First: 11/16/2010 Last: 8/23/2011 |
Our company is located in a city where bumper stickers are an artform; multiple piercings and tattoos are commonplace. We do not have a policy regarding body art, instead trusting that our employees know what is appropriate in the workplace. So far, we have not had an incident that made us regret our lack of rules in this area. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/16/2010 5:11 AM EST
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Posts: 2
First: 1/2/2008 Last: 11/16/2010 |
Our industry is insurance and most of our clients are attorneys. Our appearance policy does not address piercings or tattoos, just states employees should have a clean, neat, well-groomed, business like appearance. However, one person does have 4 small, beautiful tattoos, which are visible and that would be me - the HR manager! |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/16/2010 5:25 AM EST
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Posts: 210
First: 1/4/2003 Last: 7/11/2011 |
I think mcdonaldc has it right. Tattooes and piercings do not need to be specifically addressed. We require a professional appearance and any dispute of that we would review on an as needed basis.
We do have a policy regarding facial hair but that involves our employees being able to wear personal safety equipment and facial hair may interfere with a seal to the skin. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/16/2010 6:14 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 11/16/2010 Last: 11/16/2010 |
The question is not whether body art is detrimental in the hiring decision (which it may or not be, depending on the organization), but whether body art is detrimental in the promotional decision. To this latter question the unequivocal answer is yes. So if you are an ambitious independently wealthy artist who will never need to attend a fund raiser, tattoo away. But for the rest of the world, know that your "individual expression" will not be helpful to your long term career success.
Will tattooing/piercing become a social norm? Probably. Will it become a social norm at the top of a hierarchical organization? Not in our lifetime. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 11/18/2010 9:29 AM EST
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Posts: 464
First: 6/30/2004 Last: 11/22/2010 |
We have a dress code, which is quite relaxed, but no particular policy regarding tattoos and/or piercings.
We are a human services non-profit agency and quite a few of our clients and our staff have body art. Our staff in one of our locations seems to have less of either than our other locations. The staff and clients in our location that has more of that are dealing with a much younger set of clients (lots of youth, troubled teens, etc) than our department with less of the issue. The department directors are hiring folks that can work well with the client demographics and the staff of each department tend to be reflective the respective client bases. |
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Body Art in the Workplace
posted at 12/7/2010 7:29 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 12/7/2010 Last: 12/7/2010 |
I'm working for a nonprofit agency and currently we don't have any official agency rule about body art. But my supervisor did mention that as long as it is not disturbing and too obvious, we're fine with it for the administration office. But for our after school program sites, you do have to cover the tattoo up while working. |
Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Body Art in the Workplace
