Colored hair in the work place?

I’m pretty sure “scene kid” is not a protected class, so yes.

What is likely to happen is that they (the employer) will find another reason to deny the applicant, such as they have another applicant who is a better fit, or the applicant with the colored hair doesn’t have the qualifications they are looking for, or something similar. They’re not going to admit “it’s because he/she has an odd hair color.”

Yep, especially in a customer-facing role. Unnatural hair color, unusual or multiple facial piercings, excessive visible tattoos.

People make decisions about decorating their bodies, they get to live with their own decision.

It depends, I interviewed once for a tech job and think I probably did not get the job because I was “square” as in showed up to the interview wearing a suit and tie.

As a consumer, I would be put off by an sales person or receptionist with purple hair or pink bangs. That would translate into me likely going someplace else, meaning that the company that hired the crazy haired person would lose business. What sort of sales oriented place would want to put off the people that pay the bills?

Sure, there’s the argument that the person with colored hair is somehow entitled to free expression and to look and dress the way they want. Personal autonomy and all that. But if I were a store owner, I would say “enjoy your personal autonomy on your own time – I’m here to sell <whatever>.

[Note: my answer would be different if the desired clientele is of the same demographic. Colored hair would be OK in a head shop. Not OK in an insurance agency.]

Is an essential requirement for a clown

When I see documentaries on prisoners, they will often show a prisoner with his whole face covered in tattoos. My first thought when I see that is “if he gets out, who is going to hire him looking like that?”

No I don’t think hair color should matter. But unfortunately every aspect of a persons appearance plays a role in their “worthiness” to others, subconsciously.

Unnaturally colored hair is a choice. Recognize that you essentially have no rights related to how you choose to appear, if it is something so quick and easily changeable. When one of my kids worked at Hot Topic, then as a barista in a kind of hip coffee shop, the brightly colored hair was a plus. When she left those jobs she changed her hair color back to natural in order to be employable in a wider range of jobs.

The employer may well ask if it should be “allowed” for people with unnaturally colored hair to waste their (the employer’s) time you applying.

I LOVE the different color hair! But if it precluded me from getting a job, I wouldn’t have it. I sure wouldn’t whine about it either.

If the job is dealing with the public and the look doesn’t fit the image the business wants to portray (think Bank of America vs Hot Topic) then sure, judgements will be made on hair and other aspects such as dress and demeanor.

No, I don’t think they should be allowed to, for hair colour, tattoos, or piercings. But they certainly seem to be, where the job involves dealing with the public. I’m not sure an employer could successfully defend a decision to dismiss such an employee who does not deal with the public, here at least.

You have to sign certain terms of conduct and standard, and that includes dress codes, when you get a job.

@Dutchess_III Some jobs may require that. I’ve never seen it.

It’s not protected (and only some states require these kind of dress code contracts), but I really think it depends on where you live. Here in L.A. you can have piercings and tattoos and strange colored hair. Sometimes those things even help you get a job, depending on what type of image they are trying to represent.

They’d get rid of the employee by doing things like assigning work and giving an impossible deadline, and then saying the employee is not keeping up with their work. They would of course not say it’s due to hair color. There are methods they employ to get rid of people. This is why unions can be a good thing. At least with a union, there’s a layer of protection.

I think that this question is where we find out who’s living in 2015 and who is still in 1815.

I have worked in law offices for many years and can freely show my many visible tattoos. 1815 is right.

Depending on the job and the company, a professional appearance is a legitimate concern.

If you have unnaturally colored hair and a potential employer turns you away for it, why would you want to work there?

I’m not put off by employees with colored hair, tats or piercings. I figure they must be really good at their job if the employer was willing to accept it. By and large, those are the friendlier and more personable employees.

Give me pink hair over a snotty attitude any day.

@ibstubro Agreed.

I dropped out of art school and had just about every hair color at one time or another. If you have an unnatural hair color, you may have to go a lot further to prove your professionalism. People with different hair colors seem to work in low-level, but hip, service industry jobs, or creative/ skilled jobs where appearance doesn’t matter (graphic designer, mechanic, tattoo artist.) The key in the second part is that your unique skillset outweighs your appearance. If you’re one of 50 people applying for a receptionist job, there are a lot of other people with the exact same skills. The employer doesn’t know you that well, and they have no reason to choose you over someone with the exact same skills and a more traditionally professional look.

It’s a lot like applying for jobs without a degree (something I’m also familiar with.) All other things being equal, the employer would probably choose someone with a degree. In order to beat that person for a job, I might have to write a more compelling cover letter, interview better, or learn more about their company. This isn’t unfair to me and I don’t deserve special protections for it. From the employer’s standpoint, someone with a degree is a safer bet, because it shows they have some background knowledge and complete something. It is my personal responsibility to prove otherwise.

@dappled_leaves Ok, all professional jobs require standards of conduct and dress codes, especially if you are a representative of the company.
McD’s drive through, not so much.

Odd, @Dutchess_III, that @tinyfaery has “worked in law offices for many years and can freely show my many visible tattoos.”

Standards of conduct and dress codes are subjective, and, “the times, they are a changin.”

These people are or will be the administrators of tomorrow.

Some firms are more laid back than others. Some are more conservative than others. Some of the law firms around here, where the paralegals make 100k and wear suits and have fancy shoes on and nicely manicured nails and coiffed hair, they’d not be hiring people with purple hair. They are projecting a certain image to clients. Other firms that I know of, where there may be one or two independent lawyers, the assistant can wear more casual clothes and may not be seen many days by any client.

If I wanted to keep my job prospects open, I’d rather err on the side of being more conservative (as far as tats and hair color) and then if I got hired by a liberal one, I could do something fun with hair or whatever. However, if you do hair color and/or tats, you’re limiting yourself to only the liberal ones.

@ibstubro I work in academia, and tattoos are extremely common, and not something one has to hide in the workplace. Different hair colours are not common (except for those odd, brassy dye jobs that some women prefer – no one seems to classify those with the colours we’re talking about, even though they are obviously fake), but I suspect that is simply because they are not in vogue. Eventually, I think they will be more common. It’s what’s inside your head that counts here.

The question was not whether some or all companies allow colored hair and tattoos now or in the future… It was whether not hiring someone based on their chosen Manic Panic shade should be allowed.

And the answer to that is yes.

I’m glad we cannot discriminate based on age, sex, disability, creed, color, etc. (Hopefully soon adding in gender expression). But seriously, if a business owner thinks your Kool-aid hair will distract from what they’re trying to sell, they should absolutely be allowed to not hire you.

No one is guaranteed protection from their personal choices.