What An Interesting Nose Ring – Now Take It Out

Many retailers consider the professional appearance of their staff to be a significant aspect of their customers' shopping experience. Unkempt, unclean, and unfriendly employees create negative impressions that injure the brand. For many years, courts have recognized that the image presented to customers by a retailer's employees is a critical aspect of the business. Appearance policies prohibiting visual tattoos, nose piercings, and long hair were repeatedly held to comply with the requirements of various employment laws.

But recent court decisions reflect a trend away from the deference courts previously paid to retailers' decisions as to the appearance of their workforce. In light of these decisions, retailers may need to reassess how they train their managers to handle discipline issues surrounding dress codes and appearance policies.

The General Rule

The general rule is that employers have great leeway in establishing how they expect their employees to appear at work. Perhaps because of this, retailers' policies differ greatly in the level of detail they provide. Some will be as simple as "employees must have a neat and clean appearance when they are at work." A less-detailed policy such as this provides individual managers with more discretion in how their staff appears and allows for regional tastes.

Others will dictate everything from the shirt to be worn to an acceptable length for fingernails. This form of policy lends itself to easily identifying and correcting violators. But both types of policies have shortcomings. A simpler policy presents opportunities for disagreements with its interpretation and inconsistent performance. Stricter policies do not allow for variations that might be required by discrimination laws. In both cases, overcoming the faults requires training managers who must police the policies on a daily basis in implementation consistent with current laws.

The Traps

Recent court decisions limiting employers' rights to require compliance have revolved around two protected classes: religion and race. Each has been cited in cases involving virtually every aspect of grooming policies from hair to dress to tattoos.

Religion is becoming the most cited reason in cases involving a refusal to comply with an employer's dress and grooming policy. Employees suing for religious discrimination have been highly successful. For example, a restaurant employee was told that he had to cover tattoos that were around his wrists while...

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