Tattoos in the Business World
One of the main things are are often brought up when looking for a job in the work place is whether or not a tattoo is acceptable. Most people used to associate tattoos with people who were riding bikes or in a gang. Nowadays, things are different. People are more accepted and hold high positions in the world whether it's from the financial world to the music industry. So the question is: Does having a visible tattoo say anything about an individual that is relevant to his or her job?
These days, it's becoming more and more important to include people from different backgrounds and not to hire people based off of what they look like. The new objective is to have people that are skilled from different places instead of just people that look the part. And there is increasing attention paid to offering a company culture that supports a variety of lifestyles.
One thing that could make or break the employer is whether the tattoo is visible or not. Although dress code is still an effective policy, there is flexibility in creating rules that require employees to present themselves in a way that is consistent with the employer's image. But that doesn’t mean that banning tattoos altogether is appropriate.
Many employers have policies that do not allow visible tattoos. Depending on the employer’s industry and the type of job, this may make sense. For example, the odds are that a five-star restaurant may not want the waiter to have large tattoos of guns and death related images on their body. But the same restaurant may have less concern if a bathroom cleaner has those same tattoos because direct contact with the restaurant’s customers is minimal.
"Issues raised by tattoos can get more complicated when it comes to gender and religion. And employers should be aware of these issues before writing and enforcing policies that prohibit visible tattoos at work. For example, historically, it is likely that more men wore visible tattoos than women. As a result, an interviewer who notices a tattoo on a man’s arm may have no reaction. But more and more women are getting tattoos, some of which are visible, and the same interviewer may have an adverse reaction if a tattoo is visible on a female applicant’s ankle. In this situation, an employer can be exposed to liability for sex discrimination if the presence of the tattoo was an issue in making the hiring decision."(Gross)
The best advice for someone thinking about getting a tattoo and entering the business world is just to get it somewhere where it is not visible. Along with that, make sure it's nothing that gives off a bad vibe because that's not going to help you chances at all. Lastly, if you're debating it, it's probably not a good idea. It's more acceptable but still a reason to re think because you never know if your dream job is ran by a super conservative boss.
Source for this information: http://www.allbusiness.com/tattoos-in-the-workplace-whats-an-employer-to-do-4113152-1.html
These days, it's becoming more and more important to include people from different backgrounds and not to hire people based off of what they look like. The new objective is to have people that are skilled from different places instead of just people that look the part. And there is increasing attention paid to offering a company culture that supports a variety of lifestyles.
One thing that could make or break the employer is whether the tattoo is visible or not. Although dress code is still an effective policy, there is flexibility in creating rules that require employees to present themselves in a way that is consistent with the employer's image. But that doesn’t mean that banning tattoos altogether is appropriate.
Many employers have policies that do not allow visible tattoos. Depending on the employer’s industry and the type of job, this may make sense. For example, the odds are that a five-star restaurant may not want the waiter to have large tattoos of guns and death related images on their body. But the same restaurant may have less concern if a bathroom cleaner has those same tattoos because direct contact with the restaurant’s customers is minimal.
"Issues raised by tattoos can get more complicated when it comes to gender and religion. And employers should be aware of these issues before writing and enforcing policies that prohibit visible tattoos at work. For example, historically, it is likely that more men wore visible tattoos than women. As a result, an interviewer who notices a tattoo on a man’s arm may have no reaction. But more and more women are getting tattoos, some of which are visible, and the same interviewer may have an adverse reaction if a tattoo is visible on a female applicant’s ankle. In this situation, an employer can be exposed to liability for sex discrimination if the presence of the tattoo was an issue in making the hiring decision."(Gross)
The best advice for someone thinking about getting a tattoo and entering the business world is just to get it somewhere where it is not visible. Along with that, make sure it's nothing that gives off a bad vibe because that's not going to help you chances at all. Lastly, if you're debating it, it's probably not a good idea. It's more acceptable but still a reason to re think because you never know if your dream job is ran by a super conservative boss.
Source for this information: http://www.allbusiness.com/tattoos-in-the-workplace-whats-an-employer-to-do-4113152-1.html
CNN: Tattoos taboo in the workplace?
CNN's Stephanie Elam discovers some employers have issues with tattoos, while others do not.