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Work/employers and appearance/hair lengh
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Work & Study
Ok. It was bought up briefly but they're not made a big deal regarding it yet.
I've started growing my hair again and its at the stage of, I need to do something with it, but it is to long to tie back.
Anyway my employers bought up v casually that it is long, and should be cut. They're reasoning being the image of the hotel, guys with long hair are not the correct image.
Now am I right in saying as long as its clean, neat and tidy then there is nothing they can do as they allow my female colleagues have long hair.
I've started growing my hair again and its at the stage of, I need to do something with it, but it is to long to tie back.
Anyway my employers bought up v casually that it is long, and should be cut. They're reasoning being the image of the hotel, guys with long hair are not the correct image.
Now am I right in saying as long as its clean, neat and tidy then there is nothing they can do as they allow my female colleagues have long hair.
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Comments
Each to their own...
Exactly. Do you really want to have this battle? How much free time and money do you have for the dismissal case?
This is what I'll probably do, but I still want to know my legal rights.
http://www.advantageemploymentlaw.co.uk/site/legalnews/hair_length_and_dress_codes.html
http://www.xperthr.co.uk/faqs/topics/6,61/religion-or-belief-discrimination.aspx?articleid=98058&mode=open
Mixed bag. You could easily win or not.
Cheers, I can't be arsed arguing and getting it cut short tomorrow...
No it's not. For instance, a woman may be allowed to wear a (sensible) skirt to work, but it's not unfair for an employer to ask that their male employees not wear one. Long hair on men is different than long hair on women. Especially if his hair is at that awkward stage where it's growing out and just looks messy and like you really need a haircut, long hair is often thought of as unprofessional for a man. It's not a big deal. When you take a job, you accept that your employer may have certain rules as far as what is considered appropriate attire for the workplace. If you don't like it, you can work somewhere else.
How is it different.. why should women be allowed long hair but men not?
If you are unwilling to cut your hair, work somewhere else (although, personally, I think it'd be a really stupid reason to quit your job if everything else is going fine). You could try reasoning with your employer, maybe they'll be willing to reach a compromise. A lawsuit would be outright ridiculous. You're making a bigger deal out of this than it is, and it's ridiculous to suggest that if you have to keep your hair shorter that your female coworkers should have to get crew cuts as well. Guess what they'd do if that happened, though? Would they sue over their rights being violated? No, they'd either comply or quit. Likewise, those are your options in this case.
it is not in any contract. Handbook or notice saying I cannot have long hair, it simply says "long hair should be tied back where possible" And I'm sorry but regardless of whether some people may deem it less professional if I want to have long hair, so long as it is clean, neat and tidy should be my choice, not my employers.
I never once mentioned lawsuits, and suing. It seems from what I can find I do have some rights regarding long hair. It's a bit mixed, however I never once mentioned lawsuits or tribunals or suing where did you get that idea from? I imply arsed legally can my employer demand I have short hair. To which the answer seems 50/50 with no definite, you must also remember our rights on the UK are very different than the US.
society standards. In an ideal world, appearances wouldnt matter, but a man with long hair is making a statement, and a woman with long hair is just traditional.
A lot of jobs wont mind long hair on men, but a lot will, especially as clan mother says, its at that inbetween messy growing out stage.
A lot of jobs wouldnt appreciate a full beard on a woman either i expect
Sadly not in this regard. This is about dress code and discrimination laws do not apply.
Been there.
Look, you're welcome to try to compromise with your employer on the issue. Maybe you'll get lucky. In the end, it's up to them what the dress code is while you're at work. Maybe you want to wear your Marilyn Manson t-shirt and your very ripped-up jeans, but your employer may not let you. Sometimes it sucks, but that's how it goes. Perhaps when it refers to long hair, it's referring to females with long hair. They may never have had problems with guys having long hair and thus didn't think to include it. *shrugs* The employer may wish for their male employees to look more respectable, and long shaggy hair doesn't really convey that image. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to prefer their male employees have short-ish hair. You can always work somewhere else that will allow you to keep yours long.
Thank you, both of you. This is what I've been trying to explain.
Either way though, totally not worth it.
I know I'm more than welcome to discuss this, the way you've said that seems like your giving me your permission to do so, thanks :rolleyes: and yes, you did make a rather bad assumption, apology accepted.
Problem is, my hair isn't shaggy, it sits ever so slightly on my collar but not shaggy, combed, flat etc. Infact it is very tidy I think and so do others. You seem to be describing my hair in a few of my posts without even seeing it
It sits 3-4mm on my collar so its not even long in my opinion.
As I've said, I wanted to know if i could tell my employer that I am going to keep my long hair, as legally entitled to per "blah blah blah"
As this seems to not be the case I will do what my employers ask,
Just so you know, I've had problems with my employers before, and them demanding me or my colleagues to do things against our rights, aka less than 11hours between shifts, 7days working etc.... my employers will shaft you if they think they can get away with it. And they have done many times before
It mentions appearence, uniform and hair twice through our handbook and contracts, First time
Second Time
Sorry but I don't agree at any job, unless it will negatively affect your job role/other legal standards, should you have to change your appearance. From hair, to tattoos, to piercings etc. Just because society has a normality and a tradition, that it may affect their professional image. I've always found that term ridiculous. Are people forgetting that you're still a human being with a life outside of work, and that you all visit and use other businesses but you don't judge a entire business on how the staff presents themselves (I don't myself) - but because a man has long hair, you refuse to visit and bad mouth that business?
Sometimes it is rules for others. Take my job at McDonald's. My lip ring (had zero change of it falling out, unless my face fell off), yet I had to take it out each shift because I was preparing food. I'm fine with that because of germs (even though it kept irritating the piercing, and risked a bigger threat, an infection) - even though I still wash my hands if I ever touch my face - so I don't see why it would matter that much. But girls were wearing ear rings, they had just as much germs on as my lip ring, and had more of a chance of falling out into food but they were allowed. Wedding rings were allowed to be worn at all times, not even taken of and cleaned separately when coming on shift - and during the day for through cleaning - though they are in direct contact with food, but because it's a wedding ring, or even if it was a religious ring, it was allowed. Though I had to take mine off because I never classed mine as either.
These days it's all about being sued. Not what is better for the staff, or generally. Just like with Equal Opportunities. It's bollocks.
The rule at work for us is, that if you want to grow your hair or moustache/beard then you can, however you have to do it during leave periods. That way you're not turning up at work looking like you've not bothered having a shave. And if we decide to grow our hair, it has to be done in a bun anyway......