Males wearing earrings.
VickyB
10 Posts
Please advise how you all handle men wearing earrings. I have a client
that wants to hire a man who has earrings in both ears and wants to write a
policy against the earrings, however, he doesn't want to enforce it for the women. We are going to write a policy on extreme piercings, but not forsure how to handle this if he insists. Thanks for your input.
that wants to hire a man who has earrings in both ears and wants to write a
policy against the earrings, however, he doesn't want to enforce it for the women. We are going to write a policy on extreme piercings, but not forsure how to handle this if he insists. Thanks for your input.
Comments
This is a subject of much discussion on The Forum. We don't address it where I work unless it creates a machining/safety hazard in the manufacturing areas. But, your client is free to establish whatever code he thinks he can enforce. Some suggest written policies limit earrings to one per ear. Good luck with your client.
The workplace is the company's domain - if it's not an image your company wants to project - then put together the policy & leave it at that. Guys will complain about unfairness, ladies may too - but dress codes are still up to the company to decide.
By the way, in our manufacturing environment we allow tight fitting earrings for any worker regardless of assumed gender as long as there is no safety hazard involved.
And by the way boys - when women make as much as men, then we can talk about equality and the need for men, in order to be truly equal to women, to wear earrings to work. x;-)
Along the same line, we hired a program manager about 3 years ago who wore a long pony tail. Hirsute men were culturally acceptable at his previous employer and the radical appearance was even encouraged. He realized, we being much more conservative, that he stuck out. And that was not necessarily good for his career. He now has extremely short hair. He made the change on his own to better fit in thinking it would benefit his career. He was probably right.
Right or wrong, we all tend to gravitate toward those we feel comfortable with or who most resemble us. Someone considered radical will not fit in with the suits and ties of a conservative organization and vice versa.
Excellent case Ray for why it's up to the employer to determine what they deem as acceptable attire/jewelry for it's employees.
ps - the earrings are worn by the men.
"Right or wrong, we all tend to gravitate toward those we feel comfortable with or who most resemble us. Someone considered radical will not fit in with the suits and ties of a conservative organization and vice versa."
There is a wonderful film called "A Penguin in the Land of Peacocks" (or vice versa, I forget). And if that one doesn't give ya something to think about, try "A Tale of "O" -- On Being Different". I recommend it to you highly and anyone else wishing to learn about diversity issues.
To hire someone who wore earrings during the pre-employment interview and then write a policy forbidding it, is stupid and asking for trouble.
Also, do you have a general piercing policy? Lips? Nose? Eyebrow? Chin? How many ear rings can females wear?
We do not allow men to wear ear rings here because we serve a conservative clientele. Our justification is that we are not trying to put attention on ourselves.
Personally I think its fine for men to wear ear rings in some environments (Starbucks, tatoo parlors, hip clothing stores).
I myself have an ear ring hole in my left ear that is the lone remaining vestige of my formerly chain-smoking, poetry writing, leather jacket wearing, tragically hip self.
Paul in Cannon Beach, OR
At my present employer, we do allow males to wear the small earrings. Our policy is written to forbid any dangling, distracting, noisy jewelry. We also forbid any visible tattoes or body piercings other than the earrings (by either sex).
There very well could be genuine business reasons for the policies and I would make sure I knew the business reasons for the dress policy before it was instituted - if there's a business reason against males or women wearing earrings - then I would treat the request as bogus - and shut it down right away.
Anyway..glad I don't work for the hospital anymore. I now have the sole joy of writing the policies for our practice and try to keep them as generic as possible while giving enough leeway to the business to run like a business without being overly restrictive.
I don't see the issue here?? Wearing of earrings by men has been well accepted in our culture for nearly 20 years now. As long as the earrings are tasteful, and not outrageous or flamboyant, I don't see any reasonable grounds for banning them. If you were to ban earrings, I think you'd have to ban them for both women and men, or open yourself to a discrimination charge. (BTW, I have both ears pierced, and wear one tasteful earring to work every day... no one has ever made a negative comment about it)
>I don't see the issue here?? so long as the earrings are tasteful, and not outrageous or flamboyant
The issue is this; whose definition of tasteful, ourtageous or flamboyant is used? If the employer does have a right to define those terms for his business, then he has a right to enact policies that comport with his definitions. I have an engineer here who, almost daily, argues that our policies are not 'fair' and are not 'reasonable'. It boils down to whose definition do we use, his or ours. Of course the answer is that the company defines fair and reason in the development and application of its policies. We can go on all day long about who likes, doesn't like or cares less about men wearing earrings and whether or not codes 'should' be asexual in application. But, as long as a company has a right to establish such policies and is not prohibited from doing so, then it may do so.
I think Ray had a post that I completely agree with regarding knowing your company's culture. I think this holds true when interviewing - you find out all you can about that company including the culture. If the company is conservative, then as an applicant, I would probably dress very conservatively for the interview. Our company allows both sexes to wear one earring per ear and I think this was to appease the many younger employees. The reality is that no executive will ever wear an earring. And they will have short hair, no facial hair except a neatly trimmed mustache and will dress conservatively. If one wants to climb the corporate ladder, talent alone will not be enough - one must mesh with the culture.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
>dress up just to appease someone's idea of proper dress. I explained
>that we are a casual company
So, when this 300 pounder shows up in spandex and a muscle T-shirt with a belly button ring, remember your conversation with her. She put you on notice with the quote above. What she may have realy been saying to you is, "Hey, I'm a slob; is that OK with yous guys?" From your post, you did not tell her, "We do have expectations, however, and the policy is not defined by each individual employee."