piercings in the workplace.

misstake

i have my septum pierced and would love to get more things done (vertical labret and monroe). i work as a customer service representative and i am told to wear my piercing turned up my nose. i am well liked by all of the customers and am always being told that i am a very good worker. if i was to have more piercings would peoples opinions of me change that much?
i worked the same job in the city and was able to do as i pleased with my body, but now i am working in a small town with the same company but it is now a taboo.

do you think that it is discriminatory that piercings are not allowed in the workplace?

Attol

Read your contract. Some companies have policies that state what is acceptable with regards to piercings and hair and things like that. I think it's fair enough to have restrictions in customer facing roles. Whether you like it or not you will probably be judged by them. I've found a nice compromise. I cut my hair short so it's just above shoulder length. I have no facial piercings. I've my nape pierced and 7 in my ears. To hide them I just wear my hair down. Nobody knows! And with my hair length it doesn't get in my way.

Malice

This was one of the first topics I posted on Boards too . As far as I know there's legislation about hygiene so piercings and working on a deli counter or on an assembly line wouldn't be allowed. I used to have my eyebrow and labret pierced when I worked as an administrator for a large American multi national. While my boss didn't approve of the piercings, she couldn't really do anything about it apart from make snide comments every so often .
The piercings are gone now unfortunately as I had to take them out for another job .
You will find people of a certain age have old-fashioned attitudes towards piercings and tattoos. These are the same people that are often found in companies making the rules.

MizzLolly

Hmm... this is tricky!! It sounds exactly like discrimination but it is so common where piercings and tattoos are concerned that you'd probably be wasting your time trying to win!! I'm a student but I work part time too. I'm lucky coz where I work is a lil quirky. They allow piercings, tattoos and hair of any kind. Even our uniform is based loosely around two colours so there's not a lotta pressure at all. They don't care how we look as long as we're comfortable and we do our job properly!! So I'm very lucky for now. I am studying to become a teacher however and I reckon I'll probably have the same rubbish you're getting. I don't even have any facial piercings but I've got a few in my ears which I was asked to take out for my first job a few years ago. I have my tongue pierced now aswell but surely that won't be a problem??!!!! :eek:

Crumble Froo

working on a til in centra, i had to not only remove ALL jewellery (except wedding rings), including my friendship bracelets and watch, keep my hair a natural looking colour, no nail varnish, ****ty outfit...

and that was just to exchange money for receipts,really...

basically, once that contract is signed... they own your soul.

fantasma

I am the type of person whilst corporate and conservative is able to turn a blind eye if you can get the job done. However you problem is specific to local attitudes, norms etc which can be more challenging. My best advise to coin an old phrase is while in Rome do what the Romans do. Otherwise be prepared for the stares. Try not to feel so paranoid.:eek:

Will

I will be working for a large accountancy firm from march onwards (for 6months) within that time im gonna hide my piercings, make life easier on myself. Its hard enough to be the newbie without people talking or giving out to you.
Best bet is to suss it out with manager/boss and take it from there. Well thats what im gonna do anyway

Reku

narco wrote: »

basically, once that contract is signed... they own your soul.

Ah, the old sign here in blood trick... why do parents never warn you of that when going for interviews for your first job, instead they just worry that you look well dressed...


In my workplace my manager regularly mentions my thumbnails/talons (filed to a point), most of the other staff are fine with them and actually find them almost as useful as I do since anytime a package needs opening and as usual no-one has a knife my nails do the job easily. They're also useful for picking up pieces of silicon wafers particularly if they're wet (they're polished so they're really flat and as a result getting under them to break the water seal can be difficult, even with knives).
As for tattoos the lower half UV one tends to be on show during the warmer weather but no-one's ever even noticed it (yay for white UV). But if anyone were to complain there are a few of the other lads who have lower arm tattoos so management would have to either ignore it or get rid of quite a few others too.